Roommates
by AnimeOtakuManga
Summary: Sakura and Sasuke are roommates. They hate each other. (Most of the time.)
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: Naruto and the Roommates are the property of their respective owners. I am is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of the material. I don't own anything. I didn't write this story only put Naruto characters in place of the original characters. I didn't write this story only replaced various things. The original is by Ashley Love.

Prologue

Sakura Pov

I wake up, startled, to someone pounding on the door to my tiny dorm room. I roll over, facing the door as the knocking continues, this time louder. I eye the alarm clock on the shared desk between the two beds, and I almost can't believe the luminescent 2:32 am or the fact that someone's actually pounding on my door at this time of night on a Wednesday.

Only I can believe it since it's not the first time.

"Sakura," someone slurs from the other side of the door. "Sakura, I forgot my key. Let me in. I know you can hear me."

I can, but I can pretend that I don't. Which is what I attempt to do, rolling back over to face the wall, pulling a pillow over my head. I'm the type of person who can sleep anywhere, at any time, and I'm a deep sleeper. Which comes in handy, really, given the rooming arrangements.

Honestly, I should have known from that first day. I should have known the moment I'd shouldered into the dorm room with a heavy box slipping from my fingers, only to find that someone had already been inside. Someone who had left their stuff everywhere. There had been boxes in different states of being unpacked littering both sides of the room, not respecting the halfway line at all. There had been clothing partially folded and draped off both beds, the drawers of the dresser at the end of the right bed hanging open.

Sasuke Uchiha is a fucking asshole.

Only I hadn't realized it at first since the boy in question had stumbled into the room with his cheeks flushed and sweat glistening his forehead, and he'd said a seemingly sincere, "Hn, Sorry. Didn't think you'd be here for a while, thought I'd have time to put my stuff away."

What I didn't realize, at that moment, was that it was only the beginning.

Now, I can't get back to sleep. Sasuke keeps knocking at the door and I keep trying to sleep, but I fucking can't.

With an annoyed huff, I climb out of bed and unlock the door. Sasuke stumbles inside, smelling like cheap beer and perfume. In the dull light from the hallway, I can see the red lipstick stain at his neck, and I roll my eyes.

"If you keep me up any longer," I warn, "I'm punching you in the face."

The door shuts, plunging the room into darkness. "You don't have the balls," Sasuke says, unconcerned. "And I'm tired anyway. Going to sleep, don't worry." He collapses on his bed hard enough that the sound of the bed frame hitting the wall cracks through the room. "Wouldn't want to screw with your precious eight hours."

I glare in Sasuke's general direction and climb into my own bed, pulling the pillow immediately over my head because Sasuke, of course, snores like a fucking lawnmower. He should really get that checked out. It's got to be some kind of condition. Or maybe he does it on purpose because he knows it irritates me.

I finally do fall back asleep, to the sound of his annoying breathing and with the smell of alcohol hanging heavily in the air.

Disclaimer: Naruto and the Roommates are the property of their respective owners. I am is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of the material. I don't own anything. I didn't write this story only put Naruto characters in place of the original characters. I didn't write this story only replaced various things. The original is by Ashley Love.


	2. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Naruto and the Roommates are the property of their respective owners. I am is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of the material. I don't own anything. I didn't write this story only put Naruto characters in place of the original characters. I didn't write this story only replaced various things. The original is by Ashley Love.

Chapter 1

Sakura pov

"Request a new roommate," Ino suggests. "It's not that hard. I'm sure you could switch rooms."

I sigh. I could, sure, but I don't want to. It's like we've started a war, Sasuke and me. I think it started in the second week, when I was trying to study and he was working out on our floor, and I couldn't help but demand to know if he could do it somewhere else, and he had only smirked at me and turned his music on. It's a war I refuse to lose, and if I give in and request a room change first, I'll be waving a white flag, surrendering. I'm not going to do that.

"No," I say firmly. "I'll deal with it."

Tenten pulls her legs up onto the couch and tucks her feet under my legs. "Maybe you two could learn to get along," she rationalizes.

Me and Ino both snort at her. "They'd kill each other before they got along," Ino adds, for good measure, and I agree. "Plus, what would we do all day if we didn't have Tenten bitching about Sasuke? I live vicariously through her roommate drama. It's entertaining."

I stick out my tongue and turn the page of my comic, and someone changes the channel of the wall-mounted TV.

Our common room isn't all that big, just a group of couches, two tables, and a single TV. But most of the people in my dorm are pretty cool, and the room is one of my safe havens. If I'm not in here, I'm either at the library or the campus coffee shop. Anywhere but my room.

Just as I think this, my safe haven is invaded by the very bane of my existence. (Maybe that's a little dramatic, but that doesn't make it any less true.) My eyes narrow as Sasuke and one of his friends from the football team fall onto the couch nearest the TV. Somehow they get the remote, and Sasuke looks smug before changing it to sports.

That's almost the extent of what Sasuke and his friends do all day, as far as I know. They have practice, they hog the TV to watch sports, and they get belligerently drunk at least three times a week. In fact, I'm like, 90% sure that I've never seen Sasuke crack a book, and I'm also pretty sure he rarely goes to class. How he even managed to get in here is beyond me, but I think I heard someone mention something about a football scholarship.

"Some people were watching that!" I call, unable to help myself.

Ino 'oohs' as Sasuke leans over the back of the couch to smirk at me. "Were you? Sorry about that." He turns back around and cranks the volume.

"Fucker," I mutter. I stand up, comic dangling from my fingertips. "I'm going out."

I don't get an answer. Ino is too busy tickling Tenten's sides, and Tenten's squirming and giggling and trying to kick her with her socked feet. They collapse against the couch, Ino on top, Tenten's legs dangling off the armrest, and I roll my eyes. They've been like that since I met them, Ino and Tenten. They come from the same town, grew up together, best friends, and they'd planned to go to school together since they were sixteen. And they actually did it, which is more than most people can say, because usually friends grow up, realize they have different dreams, and go their separate ways. But not Ino and Tenten. They're like conjoined twins. A package deal. There's no separating the two.

I bend to pick my bag up from the ground and carefully put the comic in it before slinging it over my shoulder and heading for the stairwell. I figure I'll head for the library, do a bit of work on my paper that's due on Monday. Sure, I have a lot of time to work on it, but this way I should be able to get it done by Friday, and I'll have the whole weekend free.

Someone blocks the door. I groan and roll my eyes, and Sasuke defiantly crosses his arms over his chest. "Can you move?" I snap.

"I need you to stay out of the room until ten tonight," he says.

Now I cross my arms too. "Why the fuck would I do that? I have class at eight tomorrow."

"I'm bringing someone back to the room," he says. "I need you to not be there. Got it?"

Is he serious? He looks serious, but he's fucking deluded if he thinks he can keep me up until past ten just because he wants to get laid. But I'm still pissed (and exhausted) from being woken up early this morning, so I plaster my sweetest, most genuine smile on my face.

"Sure thing. I'll be in the library until then anyway."

Sasuke looks a little thrown by that, but he smirks back at me and says a cheerful, "Hn, Brilliant." confirming my suspicions that he's never been in the library. The library closes at nine. Even if I wanted to, I couldn't stay there until ten.

When he's no longer blocking the exit, I push through the door and head down the stairs. I light up a cigarette as I walk, a smirk playing on my lips.

The library is mostly deserted when I get there, which is my favorite part about the library on Wednesdays. Usually the only days it's really packed are Mondays, Tuesdays and Sundays. Other than that, it's only the stragglers, the kids who are really focused on getting good grades, and the occasional student passed out at a table, probably because it's quieter in here than it would be in their dorm.

"Afternoon, Sakura," the librarian greets when I walk in.

I smile at her. "Shizune." I swipe a sucker from the bowl on her desk. There's no food allowed in the library, not even coffee (which sucks, but I see the reasoning behind it), but candy is the one exception. Shizune's always got candy on her desk, and she allows certain students to take them. I'm one of the lucky few.

I spend the next three hours in the back of the library, working on my paper. The few students around me seem exhausted and stressed, but I'm not one of them. I maybe, secretly sort of like the hard work. Like being challenged. Like the research and working my brain and putting effort into doing well. Like the accomplished feeling when I know I've put my heart into something and I do a good job of it.

It's about eight when I pile up my stuff and head back to my room, paper nearly done. I just have to finish another two hundred words, type it out on my laptop and it's finished.

I toss my bag on top of my dresser and turn on the small radio on the shelf above my bed before settling in.

At around nine the doorknob jiggles, and I hear a girl laughing, bright and feminine, before Sasuke says, "I can't wait to get you naked." I roll my eyes and adjust my glasses on my face while pretending to read my comic.

The door opens, the two of them stumbling in, wrapped up in each other, and then they stop dead. The girl's eyes widen, and she looks uncomfortable.Sasuke, on the other hand, looks livid.

"What are you doing here?" he demands.

I shrug a shoulder. "What's it look like?" I ask. "I'm reading, obviously. I know that's a foreign concept to you, but it's really not that hard to understand."

"Is she going to stay?" the girl whispers, as if the room isn't the size of a shoebox, impossible to not be heard in it, no matter how you try. "I'm really not into exhibitionism."

"I'll deal with this," Sasuke tells her. He crosses the room and pulls the comic from my grip. "Get out."

"Don't touch my shit," I counter, reaching for the comic. Sasuke holds it high over my head. "Or do, and I'll let out RA know that you're defacing my property and get a new roommate."

Sasuke growls in frustration. "You said you'd be gone!"

"You woke me up at three in the morning off your ass because you didn't have your fucking key!" I say right back, standing up. "And it's my room too, you can't just kick me out of it."

Sasuke throws the comic at me. It doesn't hurt, obviously, but it pisses me off. "Maybe if you got a life," he hisses, "outside of the library and your homework, you wouldn't be such an uptight bitch about everything!"

"Oh, wow," I mock, feigning shock. "You actually know what the library is? I never would have guessed."

Sasuke grits his teeth, jaw clenched. I grin at him, only because I know that pisses him off even more. Really, I'm just as pissed, vibrating with anger, but I don't want Sasuke to know that he gets to me as much as he does.

"I'm just gonna go," the girl says quietly. "You two keep, uh, doing whatever this is."

Sasuke glares at me for a beat longer before jogging after her. Our door slams behind him, and I let out a shaky breath. Maybe Ino is right. Maybe I should request a new roommate before me and Sasuke really do end up murdering each other in the middle of the night.

Disclaimer: Naruto and the Roommates are the property of their respective owners. I am is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of the material. I don't own anything. I didn't write this story only put Naruto characters in place of the original characters. I didn't write this story only replaced various things. The original is by Ashley Love.


	3. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Naruto and the Roommates are the property of their respective owners. I am in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of the material. I don't own anything. I didn't write this story only put Naruto characters in place of the original characters. I didn't write this story only replaced various things. The original is by Ashley Love.

Chapter 2

Sakura POV

"Do you have to do that right now?"

Sasuke smirks from his spot on the floor. He leans back until his back is nearly hitting the floor, and then he pulls himself up to his legs, bent at the knees, keeping his feet planted firmly on the ground. He doesn't have to since all of the school's athletes have access to the gym 24/7. He just likes to fuck with me.

At least, I'm pretty sure that's why Sasuke does it. Maybe every little thing he does isn't actually intended to make my blood boil, but it does. And he's distracting. I'm trying to type out my essay so I can spend the rest of the night watching Netflix on my laptop. But Sasuke's grunting and sweating and breathing heavy, and I can't focus on copying the words from page to laptop with him doing that shit.

I'm just about to give up when someone knocks at the door. I turn, fingers hovering over the keys, and Sasuke calls out, "Come in!" while continuing with his sit-ups, which is admittedly a little impressive since I figure I would be too busy wheezing to talk if I were in his position. Then again, Sasuke's extremely in shape, which is probably a good thing because, really, he doesn't have much else going for him but his body.

The door opens, and Tenten comes into the room, dressed differently than I've seen her all week. That's just what Tenten does. Between Monday and Friday, she refuses to shave, barely showers, and walks around in the same sweatpants days in a row with messy hair tucked under a beanie. But then, Friday night, she shaves and styles her hair and changes the worn clothes for perfectly pressed shirts and tight jeans, going from homeless to girl-next-door in a matter of hours.

"Hey," I say. "What's up?"

Tenten shuts the door behind her and side steps Sasuke on her way to my bed. "I've come to rescue you from the world of academics. Figured you could use a break, and I know you won't take one on your own, so hurry up. Finish whatever you're doing, and then get dressed. We're going out."

Sasuke snorts from the floor; I ignore him. "Going out where?" I ask.

"A party," Tenten admits.

"I don't go to parties," I point out. I don't see the appeal. Last time I had, I lost Tenten and Ino in the crowd, someone spilled beer on me, and I'd spent the whole night in the corner, praying one of my friends would come to rescue me. Or maybe hoping someone would try to talk to me, but everyone had ignored me, as they always do.

"Because you're never invited," Sasuke snickers. He's moved on to doing push-ups now—one-handed push-ups. Show off.

"Well she was invited tonight," Tenten hisses at him. She turns to me. "Ignore the side effects of steroids on your floor. Come out with us. Ino wants you to come, and no one can say no to Ino."

I roll my eyes. I don't want to be the only one not going, though. I don't want to spend tomorrow in the common room, listening to Tenten moan about a hangover and Ino recount their hilarious, drunken adventures. "Home by one at the latest?" I bargain.

"Promise," Tenten says, hand over her heart. "Cross my heart and hope to die."

I save my paper on the computer and shut my laptop. Sasuke's foot juts out in front of me when I head to the dresser, but I see it before I can trip, so I kick him hard in the shin and say, "Oh, sorry, didn't mean to."

He glares at me and gets up. "Whatever. I'm coming with you guys."

I put my glasses on top of the dresser while I change into a clean t-shirt. I put the glasses back on, pull on a hat, and that's about all I'm going to do to get ready.

"You're not invited," Tenten is saying to Sasuke when I'm done.

Blake scoffs. "Whose party is it?"

"Gaara from my civics class," Tenten answers instantly.

"Gaara ? The one with the red hair?" he asks. When Tenten nods, he smirks and says, "Then I'm a lot more invited than either of you." He tugs on a hoodie, even though he's still disgustingly sweaty. "I'm coming."

I give Tenten a look, hoping she flips out like that time she'd didn't get enough sleep, had a big test coming up, and the barista at the coffee shop had given her a hard time. Tenten is terrifying when she wants to be, and I would love to see her rip Sasuke a new one. Instead, all she does is bite her lip for a long moment before shrugging. "Not like we can stop him," she says, regretful. "Let's just go."

I decide to ignore Sasuke for the rest of the night, which seems to be fairly easy. We meet up with Ino in the common room, and Sasuke spends the walk with his phone in hand, texting someone. And since Ino is my best friend, she treats Sasuke the same way. Only Tenten acknowledges him, but that's because Tenten too polite for her own good.

The party is only a few streets off campus. It's not a very long walk, but I wish it had been. It's only ten, which means I'm in for a long night. The house it's held at isn't very big either, which means we'll all be packed in, right on top of each other. This suspicion is only confirmed when Tenten pushes open the door, music pouring out onto the streets.

The front hallway is crowded, and we have to squeeze single file to get through. Sasuke is pressed up against my back, and I would elbow him in the ribs if I had enough room to do so. But I don't, and I nearly knock someone's drink out of their hand when I try.

The crowd thins a bit in the living room, but the music is so loud it hurts. I make a face and fist a hand in the back of Ino's shirt so we don't get separated. No way am I letting them leave me alone this time. Not here. Not when I don't recognize a single person from my classes, and I can already feel a weight settling on my chest, making it harder to breathe.

Ino guides me to the kitchen while pulling a bottle of vodka from her purse. "Best to bring your own!" she shouts over the music. "Never trust shit you drink at a party!"

I'm not dumb. I might not go to these things, but I'm aware of the dangers of leaving your drink unattended and date rape and shit. Plus, I don't plan on drinking anything except maybe a can of Coke, if I can find one.

The music isn't nearly as deafening in the kitchen. It's still audible, but it's more bearable, almost pleasant, something I recognize. I drum my fingers on the counter as Ino makes her and Tenten a drink, and then presses a can of Coke into my hand. "You sure you don't want something stronger?"

I look around at the unfamiliar faces. At the group of guys arguing or talking in the corner (it's hard to tell which), and the couple tearing at each other's clothes against the opposite counter, and the single girl sitting on the floor with her back against the wall, looking close to vomiting.

"Yeah, I'm positive," I say.

Half an hour later, when Ino ditches us off to dance with a friend from one of her classes, and Tenten goes off to smoke a joint with one of her friends ("It's organic. Totally healthy.") I yet again find myself in the corner, alone, sipping my drink. I could try talking to people, I know, but most of them look like they're already on their fifth or sixth drink, and being sober around drunk people is never fun. So I sink down to the floor, legs pulled up to my chest, and play with my phone.

"Even when she parties she's boring," I hear. I look up to find Sasuke not far from me, talking to his friend Naruto. "Hey Haruno, you wanna have some fun?"

I smile tightly at him. "Who says I'm not already having fun?"

Naruto offers me a hand up anyway. Where Ino is an asshole to Sasuke out of sympathy for me, Naruto has been nothing but nice to me since we met. Even when he hangs out in the room and me and Sasuke bicker, the most Naruto does is laugh at both of our insults. Other than that, he's fairly friendly, and I have no idea how Sasuke got a best friend that nice when he's such a dick.

So I take the hand and let Naruto drag me up, and then I'm being pulled into another room with a few people and a single long, rectangular table.

"Need another for beer pong," Sasuke says loudly. "Who's up?"

"I'll play," offers a random girl. Instantly, Sasuke's arm goes around her waist, pulling her in, and I avert my eyes in annoyance.

"You'll be on my team," Naruto says to me. "Don't worry, I'm fucking awesome at beer pong."

"Wait." I take a step backwards. "I never agreed to play."

"It's probably because she doesn't know how," Sasuke says with a smirk.

I glare at him. "I know how," I spit. It's not like it's fucking rocket science. Right? It's just—throwing a ball into a cup and then drinking or something.

"Do they teach courses in beer pong at the library?" Sasuke wonders. The girl in his arm giggles.

"Don't be a prick," Naruto scolds. He gives me a reassuring smile. "I promise it'll be fun. Or you could always go back to sitting on the floor."

I chew the inside of my lip and watch Sasuke untangle his arm from around the girl. He grabs a pack of red plastic cups, and then he starts filling them from the honest to fucking God keg of beer in the corner. I thought those were just a myth. I didn't know people actually had kegs at parties like this.

One by one, Sasuke places the cups on the table until there's ten on each side, organized in perfect pyramids. When he finishes, he looks up at me with a challenge in his dark eyes.

"Okay," I say. "I'll play."

"That's the spirit!" Naruto claps me on the back. He steered me towards the table, producing two small plastic balls from seemingly nowhere. "We play pretty simple. Basically, you throw the ball, no bouncing or it's disqualified, into one of the cups on the opposing team's side. If it gets in, one of them has to drink. You get to choose which. Once we've both gone, they go and we drink. The game keeps going until one of the teams has no cups left, or someone passes out."

Because that doesn't sound ominous. "Alright," I say, mouth dry.

"You guys can go first," Sasuke offers. "Since it's Sakura's first time and all."

I don't even deny it. No point. I watch as Naruto stands at the edge of the table, a look of deep concentration on his face. His tongue sticks out, and he very carefully tosses the ball. It arcs over the table, landing neatly in the center cup. Someone on the other side of the room whoops, and Naruto says, "Your turn."

I take the other ball from him and swap him spots. It can't be that hard. People do this while wasted, and I'm perfectly sober. I suck in a breath, lift my hand, and toss the ball. It bounces off a cup and Sasuke reaches out to catch it before it can hit the ground, laughing as he does.

"Nice one," he says. "Great aim, Sakura."

"Ami, you can have that one," Naruto says, nodding at the cups.

The girl takes the drink, pulls the ball out, and chugs it in one long, guzzling sip. Someone cheers again.

When Sasuke goes, he gets it perfectly in the cup at the right corner. The girl gets hers too and tells Naruto to drink it, while Sasuke orders me to take mine.

I wrinkle my nose as I pick up the drink and pull out the ball. How fucking sanitary even is this? But Naruto is watching me expectantly, and Sasuke looks like he's waiting for me to chicken out, so I bring the cup to my lips and do my best to swallow the contents down in one go. They burn, it tastes like ass, and I can feel it dripping down the sides of my face. But I do it, and then I wipe at my mouth with the back of my hand.

This time, my ball lands in a cup, and I smirk while Sasuke drinks it. Naruto wasn't lying, either, when he said he was good. He is, never missing a cup, but I do, and Sasuke's even better than Lucas. By the time me and Naruto lose, I'm a little tipsy, but Naruto looks completely unfazed. Sasuke's partner looks out of it.

"Another game?" Naruto suggests.

"Two on one," Sasuke says. "Ami should probably stick to water."

The girl pouts. "What? I wanna play."

"Hotaru," Sasuke calls. A second later, another girl is at his side, and Ami plasters herself to her while Sasuke says, "Don't let her drink anything else, okay? She's out of it. And make sure she gets home alright. If you need cab money, let me know."

Hotaru nods and pulls Ami away, and I blink in surprise. That was almost...decent of Sasuke. Only Sasuke's not decent. He's a vile asshole. I shake my head and push that from my mind.

Somehow Sasuke wins again. I figure it because I'm feeling the effects of the alcohol by my third drink of the game, and I don't sink a single ball. But I keep trying. The more I drink, the harder I try, until nearly all our cups are gone and I'm giggling, hand pressed to my mouth to hide it.

Sasuke sinks the final ball, I drink it before I can be told to, and Naruto laughs at my eagerness before I say, "Let's play another game. I'll be better this time," I promise.

"Don't think you'd make it through another game," Naruto teases. He slings an arm over my shoulder. "Next time, and we'll kick Sasuke's ass."

I pout a bit. The room sways and sways, like I'm on unsteady ground. I can't remember the last time I drank this much, if ever. I can't remember a lot of things, though. Like where Ino and Tenten went. Or what I'm doing with Naruto's arm around my shoulder, but it's warm and Naruto is nice so I sigh into it. "I'm drunk, I think."

"Nice observation. Sasuke always told me you were smart," he jokes.

My brow furrows at that. "He did? Cause that sounds nice and Sasuke's not nice. Not nice at all. He snores."

Naruto throws his head back in a laugh, and I have to join him because it sounds like fun. I only remember that Sasuke's there when he says, "We should find her friends. I didn't think she'd be such a lightweight."

"I'm not a lightweight," I say, indignant.

"Yeah, you are."

I flip him off and laugh at the look I get for that. I let myself be tugged through the room, past blurred face after blurred face. It's a little disorienting, and I don't like it. I clutch at Naruto's hand in mine, even if I can't remember when that happened. I don't remember Naruto grabbing my hand or me grabbing his.

When we get to the living room, I decide I don't like being drunk. I can't think straight, I can't walk straight, and the only thing keeping me from falling every few steps is Naruto. I want Ino, I think. I want Tenten, too, and her dimpled smile and soft words. The music is too loud, and the people shouting over it are too loud, and it's way, way too hot. So hot. I go to tug up my shirt, but a hand wraps around my wrist, stopping me.

"Keep your clothes on," Sasuke mutters. "Jesus Christ."

That's probably a good idea.

We find Ino and Tenten in the kitchen, Tenten holding up a wasted Ino that looks possibly worse than I feel.

I make a beeline for them, pulling my hand out of Naruto's. I press mine and Tenten's foreheads together and laugh, but I can't remember why. Something was funny, I swear it was. Maybe it's the look of shocked concern that flits over Tenten's brown eyes.

"I played beer pong," I say proudly. "I sucked."

"She really did," Naruto confirms.

Carefully, Tenten puts a hand under my chin and tilts it up. Her fingers are smooth, and I close my eyes because it feels nice. "Sakura ," she says. "Look at me."

"Can't," I admit, "my eyelids are sleeping." I struggle to open them, frustrated, and when I do Tenten looks upset. "I think I'd like to go home now. I don't feel good."

Ino laughs at me, seeming to come without warning. "Aw, our little Sakura is wasted. That's adorable. We've corrupted her, Ten."

"You didn't do shit," I slur. I'm suddenly aware of it, the fact that my words are stringing together, not as coherent as I thought they'd be. "All you did was ditch me."

"We didn't ditch you," Tenten says quickly. "We—"

"She was on the floor when I found her," Sasuke cuts in. "So you kind of did."

I whirl, falling back against Ino's chest. Her arms go around my waist, keeping me up. "Why are you still here?" I wonder. "Why is he still here, Tenten?"

Sasuke doesn't look offended. He just rolls his eyes and says, "I'll take her home if you all want to stay."

"No way," Ino protests. "Not letting you take my—my drunk best friend anywhere, Sasuke Uchiha. I'll take her home. Come on, Sakura."

I loop my arm with Ino's, and the two of us head through the kitchen. Ino easily pushes past people with a hand extended in front of her and a haughty tilt to her chin, and the next thing I know, cool air is washing over me. I breathe deeply and let out a loud cheer of relief.

"We should skip," Ino says, so serious like this is the greatest idea in the world.

I burp. I don't mean to, it just happens. "What?"

"Skip, like—" She starts doing it, and I follow her movements. "We're off to see the Wizard!" Ino sings, "The wonderful...I don't know, I'm drunk."

"I'm drunk, too," I admit. "I think. Everything's spinny."

Ino nods as we pass a streetlight, and then another. "I'm probably not equipped to take you home."

"I'm probably going to throw up."

Someone grabs my arm a little tightly, and I make a sound of pain before Sasuke says, "Slow down. And stop shouting, do you want the cops to stop us?"

Tenten appears on Ino's right, and Naruto steps in behind us. Me and Ino stay quiet after that, but we're still stumbling and holding onto each other. At one point we nearly fall, Ino tipping sideways, pulling me with her, until someone straightens us. I have no idea who it is, but I mumble a thank you anyway.

The rest of the walk after that is kind of foggy. The next thing I know, Sasuke's pushing me down on my bed and ordering me to sleep. And I'm too tired to fight him on it.

Disclaimer: Naruto and the Roommates are the property of their respective owners. I am in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of the material. I don't own anything. I didn't write this story only put Naruto characters in place of the original characters. I didn't write this story only replaced various things. The original is by Ashley Love.


	4. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: Naruto and the Roommates are the property of their respective owners. I am in no way associated with 9the owners, creators, or producers of the material. I don't own anything. I didn't write this story only put Naruto characters in place of the original characters. I didn't write this story only replaced various things. The original is by Ashley Love.

Chapter 3

Sakura POV

I wake up with a pounding headache. If that were the extent of it, I could deal. But my mouth tastes foul too, and my stomach is churning and twisting and making this gross guttural sound. There's this horrible thumping too, that seems to jolt me every few seconds. I groan and roll over, only to find Sasuke in the middle of the room, doing fucking jumping jacks.

"You're satanic," I moan. "Cut it out."

Sasuke keeps jumping. "Is it bothering you?"

"Is it going to bother you when I wrap my hands around your throat?" I counter. I reach for my extra pillow, but it's fallen on the floor. It takes so much effort to grab it that I want to cry, but I manage to get it over my head. And Sasuke keeps jumping. "Sasuke. Stop. I'm dying."

"Do you remember," Sasuke says conversationally like he's not still working out. He's hardly even breathless, "that time I passed out on the floor and you woke me up to Call Me Maybe? Or that time when I'd done all those tequila shots, and you wouldn't stop clicking your damn fucking pen?"

Vaguely, yes. That's not the full list of things I'd done to irritate Sasuke when he had a hangover. That's not fair, though. I don't ever drink; Sasuke's always partying. Shouldn't I get this one free pass?

"Please."

"Still got another fifteen minutes of my workout," he says. "You're just going to have to deal with it."

Blindly, I search on the desk beside me. My hand curled around a pencil, and I throw it in the general direction of his grunting. "I hate you. Really. I honestly, truly fucking hate you."

"Mutual," he says. "Glad we had this talk."

The rest of the morning is spent like that. I try to sleep and not leak brain matter onto my pillows through the cracks in my skull, and Sasuke makes as much noise as possible. Eventually, I give up and stomp out of the room with my shower bag. The warm water doesn't do nearly as much as I need it to, but at least I don't smell like beer and sweat anymore.

My room is empty when I get back. I consider trying to fall asleep, but I figure I wouldn't manage it anyway. Instead, I drop my stuff off, pull on a sweater over my t-shirt and sweats, and head to the common room. Ino and Tenten are already there, curled up on the couch in front of the TV, watching cooking shows.

"Why are you watching this?" I complain. On screen, the woman adds what looks like a pound of butter to some sort of sauce. Ugh. "I don't even want to think about food."

"That's 'cause you're hungover babe," Ino says weakly. She's got her head in Tenten's lap, and Tenten's petting her blonde hair slowly. It looks nice; I'm a little jealous. I want someone to pet my hair when I'm hungover. "You need to eat something, though. You'll feel better if you do."

My stomach growls, but bile rises in my throat when I think about actually eating anything. "I'm good. And I'm not going down to the dining hall."

Tenten stands up, ignoring Ino's sound of protest. "I'll make you a bagel," she says. "You'll feel better. Trust me."

I waved her off. Maybe a bagel would be okay. My stomach doesn't exactly flip at the sound of it, and I'm not about to throw up (I think; I very well might, but I should be okay). As soon as Tenten's gone, Ino changes spots, turning so her head is now in my lap, but she's got another thing coming if she thinks I'm going to coddle her the way Tenten does.

"You feel pretty shitty, huh?" Ino asks.

I shrug. I do, but it's more bearable now. I wish I'd gotten another hour of sleep, though. Or that I'd put my foot down a little harder last night. I've still got to finish with my paper, and now I have to do it while feeling exhausted and vaguely nauseous. "Yeah."

"How did that even happen?" she wonders. "You were sipping Coke, last time I checked."

I shift under her, mind whirring. It's a little foggy, but I can still remember. "Beer bong," I say quietly. "Naruto and Sasuke asked me to play."

"How'd you manage that without the two of you leaping across the table at each other?"

I flick her on the arm and make a face. "I don't know. I was bored. Seemed like a challenge, and I couldn't not agree to it." And maybe it had been fun. Just a little. Not worth how I feel today, though.

Tenten returns with a bagel for each of us, and I eat mine in, like, four huge bites. I'm starving suddenly, and I end up stealing half of Ino's bagel, too, when she goes green after the first bite.

I spend the rest of the morning and most of the afternoon, curled up on the couch, watching cooking show after cooking show because Ino's obsessed, and everyone else who comes into the room seems fairly content to watch.

I'm feeling almost one hundred percent by the time I go back to my room to finish my paper. Which goes straight down the drain the second I stepped into the room.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me," I say, eyes wide.

It's—shit, I can't even describe it, and I've been taking a creative writing class for months, so that's kind of a hard feat. But there's...fuck, what even is that? Shaving cream? covering my pillow, and Sasuke's pillow. There's silly string creating a web between the beds, the walls, the dresser, the desk. Hanging over our window is a jersey. Underneath the black spray paint, I can faintly make out Uchiha as well as Sasuke's number, but they've crossed it out and written 'cock sucker' (two words, written sloppily by someone who apparently has no idea how to use spray paint) in its place.

All in all, our room is fucking trashed. And Sasuke is so, so dead.

Only I have no idea how to find him. I don't have Sasuke's phone number, and I have no idea where the guy hangs out. Which means there's nothing I can do about this, for the time being, except strip both of our beds and bring the laundry down to the laundry room. (I refuse to clean anything else up. This is Sasuke's problem, he can fucking deal with it.)

That, and simmer in my anger.

By the time Sasuke finally comes into the room, chuckling at something someone in the hall said to him, I'm enraged. His smirk dies in his throat and he freezes, gaping around the room. "What happened?" he asks.

I stand up, stepping past silly string and more shaving cream on the ground. "What happened? I think you should answer that since it's not my fucking jersey hanging on the window!"

Slowly, Sasuke picks his way across the room, past all the shit lying around. He tugs the jersey down and frowns at it before checking the tag. "How did they get this?" he demands. "This was in my locker!"

"That's what you're upset about?" I ask. "Really? All of our shit is covered in—in shit!"

"Why are you acting like this is my fault?"

I put a hand on my hip and lift the other one, palm side up, and wave it in the air, gesturing to the room as if to say 'Oh, I don't know, take a guess.' "Why would someone even do something like this?"

Sasuke winces, balling the jersey up in his hand. "I think I know why," he admits. He hastily adds, "Which doesn't make it my fault, okay? But it, uh, might be the guys from Suna. We kicked their asses the other day, and they weren't exactly happy about it."

I blinked at him for a long moment. "You're telling me," I say while pinching at the bridge of my nose, "that this is over a game of football? That our room is trashed because of a fucking game?"

"I think so, yeah," Sasuke admits. "It happens, pranks on the other teams and stuff. You're making a way bigger deal of this than you need to. Nothing's ruined, it's just messy. Well, nothing but my fucking jersey," he grumbles. "I'm going to have to order a new one and use my spare for now."

"And clean this up," I added. "You have to clean this up."

Sasuke snorts, dropping his jersey onto the bare mattress of his bed. Our laundry won't be done for another hour or so, which sucks because I honestly want nothing more than to crawl into bed and pretend that I never woke up this morning. That everything from that point on was just a dream.

"I'm not cleaning your side of the room," Sasuke informs me.

"Yeah, you are," I say. "It's your fault this even happened."

"No, it's not," Sasuke says firmly. "It's not like I asked for it."

"I did the laundry, you can do the room. That's pretty fair, considering this wouldn't have happened to me if I wasn't rooming with you."

"How do you know?" he argues. "I'd have silly strung your room months ago if I didn't have to look at it."

"Just fucking clean it, Sasuke!" I shout, my patience was gone. My cheeks flush, and I can't remember the last time I was this upset. Sure, Sasuke pisses me off on a daily basis, but this is worse than usual.

I like my space clean, okay? I like to be able to do my work. I like my things organized. I like to keep my bed made unless I'm sleeping in it. Now, there's silly string covering my textbooks and my comics. There's a blob of shaving cream on my laptop. If there were ever a time where I really lost it and finally gave in, punched Sasuke right in his face, it'd be today. I feel overheated with anger, breath coming out in pants.

And Sasuke. Fucking Sasuke, he says, "I'll clean my half."

I push him. I'm not even aware I'm doing it until my fingers press into his shoulders. "You'll clean the whole thing."

Sasuke's so surprised that he actually stumbles back a step, but as soon as he's caught himself he's crowding into my personal space. He gets so close that we're almost touching, his face inches from mine, and I'm suddenly acutely aware of the size difference. Height wise, Sasuke's bigger than me. And he's got wider shoulders, thicker arms, and he's a guy after all. If it came down to it, he could kick my ass, no problem.

It's like the tension in the air is a physical thing, something stretched so tightly that it's only seconds away from snapping. And it does, when Sasuke leans in and whispers, "What if I don't?"

The next thing I know, he's got a hand around the back of my neck, pulling me in, and I've got my hands gripped tightly on his waist, fingers curling, nails trying to dig into flesh through his shirt. It hurts when Sasuke's lips meet my own. It's violent. His teeth press against my lips, and I make a sound of pain that he matches with one of frustration.

I'm not even thinking, I'm just reacting. I push my hands under his shirt, sliding up his muscular back, and Sasuke fists a hand in my hair, tugging at it until my lips part obligingly. His tongue pushes into my mouth, and all I can do is focus on remembering how to breathe as I try to kiss back.

It's like he's trying to kiss me and hurt me, at the same time. I do the same, pulling back, tugging sharply at his bottom lip with my teeth until he hisses in a sharp breath.

"I can't believe you pushed me," he says, as he does just that to me, pushing me back towards my own bed, never fully breaking contact.

I stumble backwards, tightly gripping the front of Sasuke's shirt. "You're such an—" I cut off when his lips move to my neck, sucking harshly. "An ass," I get out, shaky, weak. "You're such an asshole."

Sasuke shoves me down onto the bed, and I go without fighting it. "I don't think anyone," he starts, pausing only to climb on top of me, legs on either side of my waist, "pisses me off as much as you do."

I try to take a breath, struggling with Sasuke's weight on top of me, but I like it. I pull him down so our chests are pressed together, and this time it's me pushing my tongue into his mouth, curling around his, tasting Coke and something else, something infinitely sweeter. So sweet it's dizzying.

Sasuke leans up, and I make an annoyed, upset sound until he tugs his shirt off and, oh, yeah, okay. That's—yeah. When he kisses me again, I'm too busy running my nails over his back, liking the way he arches when they dig in too much, praying that they leave red marks in their wake.

Sasuke's length presses against my hip, and I groan when he grinds down against me, raggedly breathing into the crook of my neck. I'm still on fire, anger pulsing through me, but it's almost evenly matched with arousal, at this point.

"Tug my hair one more fucking time," I warn while trying to feebly grind up against him, "and I swear—"

Sasuke does just that, and the sound I make was supposed to be annoyed, it was, only it isn't. It isn't at all. "What? Seems like you like it," Sasuke grunts against my skin.

He keeps tugging at my hair, but it doesn't really hurt, exactly. It sends sharp pinpricks of arousal through me, and when he grinds down just right against me, just enough friction between our bodies to steal the air from my lungs, I moan, "Fuck you, Sasuke. Fuck you."

"What do you think I'm trying to do?"

My eyes fall closed at that. Is that where this is going? Seems to be. Do I want that? Maybe I'd say no, if Sasuke wasn't still rolling his hips down into mine, mouthing along my neck as he does. But he is, and all I can think about is finding relief from the red hot coil of tension in my stomach.

"Then do it," I say. "Stop dry humping me."

He pulls back abruptly, hovering over me, propped up on his hands. He searches my eyes for a moment, and I glare up at him, lips parted, panting embarrassingly.

"Okay," he says slowly, looking almost dazed. "I...yeah, okay."

He leans over to the desk before I can say anything. He pulls open the bottom drawer, grabbing out a pencil case, from which he produces a box of condoms. Just seeing that makes this more real, and my stomach flips but I force it down, saying, "I can't believe you've been keeping condoms in a pencil case."

Lips crushing my own shut me up, and I'm pretty sure that was his intention. I go with it, kissing him back eagerly because I've accepted that this is happening, and I'm going to fucking enjoy it until it ends and the consequences of what's happening catch up to me.

Sasuke undoes his jeans while I sit up to tug off my shirt, and then hands are at the waistband of my own jeans, popping open the button, tugging down the zipper. I lift my hips, and Sasuke looks down at me with his bottom lip between his teeth. It makes me squirm. "Are you going to just sit there like that the whole time, or—?"

My panties are tugged so quickly down my hips I'm pretty sure the seams rip. After that, there's no more kissing. No lingering looks or touches. Sasuke moves like the same heat that's burning me up is coursing through his veins, and he wastes no time slicking up his fingers, pushing one into me with his eyebrows drawn together in concentration. No teasing, straight to the point.

By the time the second finger stretches me open, I have my head tilted back. I can't look down at Sasuke anymore. It's too much, the drag of his fingers, the mild pain underlying the shivers that go through me every time he brushes that spot inside me. It's not enough, at the same time, so I push down against them and try to bunch my hands against the bare mattress, but there's nothing for me to hold onto, which might be the cause of that feeling in my stomach. It's like being on a rollercoaster; it's like that moment where you tip too far back in your chair and it hits you that you're going to fall and your stomach clenches.

"Fuck," I hiss at the third finger, and I can't tell if it's in pain or pleasure; maybe it's both because they're blurring together in my mind.

There's no warning before Sasuke's fingers are gone, and I would yell at him for it if I had any breath left in my lungs. I prop myself up on my elbows, watching as he rips open the condom with difficulty, fingers still slick from fingering me. I take that one moment to appreciate him. Sure, I hate the guy, but that doesn't stop him from being gorgeous. All that working out pays off, apparently, and the sweat shining on his skin only enhances the dips and curves, the hard muscles of his stomach and chest, the width of his shoulders, the curve of his dick, which he's sliding the condom onto, the thick coarse hair at the base.

I lay my head back against the pillow.

"Are you sure?" Sasuke asks when he's done, leaning over me once again. I give him a pointed, annoyed look. "Right. Just let me know if..." He swallows back the rest of his words and shakes his head. He moves so he's lying beside me, and he orders, "Get on top of me."

I have to bite back the instinctive "Don't tell me what to do," only because I feel like now is not the time. Instead, I do as I'm told, thighs on either side of Sasuke's body. One of his hands grabs my hip, the other lining himself up with my entrance, and I lower myself. I'm taking short, aborted little breaths, eyes squeezed closed. It's been way, way too long, and for a moment it hurts more than it feels good.

It starts out slow, me doing most of the work as Sasuke blinks up at me with heavily lidded eyes. But eventually he grunts out a moan and both of his large hands grip my hips tightly, pushing me down, and he fucks up into me with abandon. I collapse on top of him, head tucked into his neck, breathing damply against his skin because that...that is exactly how this is supposed to be. Not slow and careful and gentle.

"You close?" he whispers, lips brushing my hair.

Really? Fuck. "Shut up," I hissed because I am. So, so fucking close, if I could just…

I push myself up, wrapping my hands around my breasts, squeezing my nipples with my fingers. Sasuke bats my hands away seconds later, replacing them with his own. One touch and it's over, it's always that way with me. I feel the electricity in my skin, hormones shutting down my brain and the rise of my orgasm. From there on in it's all passion, intense, intoxicating. It's my release, my escape, my drug…

Not that I'm easy. I know well enough to avoid letting guys have their way with me. But with Sasuke, too many of my switches are flicked for a reverse gear to be possible. All I can do is go along for the ride and pray my instincts are right.

"Oh my God," I can't help but moan into the air, tilting my head back and squeezing my eyes shut. Sasuke continues fucking the shit out of me, taking my breasts in his large hands, massaging and moulding them, his palms teasing my nipples. He moves his hands to brutally grip my waist, my tits bouncing up and down as his hips slam against with me force.

My nails leave indents on his chest when I cum white hot between the two of us, gasping, toes curling, a shudder going through my whole body. I fall forward against his chest, and he keeps going, only slowing a fraction.

I whimper, I can't help it, not with my oversensitive nipples trapped between our bodies. His hands slide soothingly up my back, and his lips press to my hair again, being incredibly gentle. Which is such a contrast from his teeth, threatening to break my skin when he finally cums, biting at my shoulder with a strangled sound.

Afterwards, there's a moment of near silence where we lie pressed together, the soft sound of our breathing the only thing in the room. Sasuke's hands keep rubbing at my back, and I try to collect myself, try to tell my limp, rubbery-feeling limbs to move, but I can't just yet.

When I can, I carefully climb off Sasuke, wincing as I fall onto the bed beside him. Instantly he crawls over me, getting off the bed. I stare up at the ceiling, hear him moving around. I'm still gulping for breath when he says, "I'm going to take a shower," and then, just before he's out the door, "and I'm not cleaning your side of the room."

The door shuts, and I'm grateful when I hear Sasuke lock it behind himself because I do not need someone walking in on me right now. Not when I'm covered in drying semen, sweat (mine and Sasuke's), lying on the bare mattress of my bed.

As the minutes tick by, it dawns on me what just happened. Bit by bit, I realize that I just had sex. With Sasuke Uchiha. I had sex with Sasuke fucking Uchiha. How exactly did that even happen? Why had I let it happen? Why did I enjoy it to so much? Because I did. Even as I press my fingers to the bruise his mouth left on my shoulder, I can't deny that it had been good. Really good.

"Shit," I mutter, covering my eyes with my arm. "Shit."

Disclaimer: Naruto and the Roommates are the property of their respective owners. I am is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of the material. I don't own anything. I didn't write this story only put Naruto characters in place of the original characters. I didn't write this story only replaced various things. The original is by Ashley Love.


	5. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: Naruto and the Roommates are the property of their respective owners. I am is in no way associated with 9the owners, creators, or producers of the material. I don't own anything. I didn't write this story only put Naruto characters in place of the original characters. I didn't write this story only replaced various things. The original is by Ashley Love.

Chapter 4

Sakura POV

Sasuke isn't in the bathroom when I go to take my shower; Sasuke isn't there when I get back to the room, but his side is spotlessly clean. And I'm grateful, even if I spend the next twenty minutes cleaning my own side of the room and getting our laundry. I'm not sure what I'd say if Sasuke had been there. Not sure if this changes things or not, because I still hate him, I do. Maybe I hate him even more.

Everything inside of me is in turmoil. I can't sort out my thoughts or emotions. On one hand, I'm shocked it happened. On the other hand, I think that maybe a tiny, little part of me saw it coming. Another part of me is pissed for even thinking that. And I feel angry with myself, angry with Sasuke, and I'm regretting it already. I regret it so much because I can't get the way he had felt inside of me out of my mind; the way he'd gripped my hips and tugged at my hair. While, at the same time, I don't regret it at all.

Eventually, I leave the room with my laptop and my books and my paper. I can't be in there anymore.

Only I can't focus on my work. I get to the library, set myself up, and then I stare at the word document, fingers hovering over the keys, eyes glazed. I try, though. I spend about an hour copying the words painstakingly slow, but I keep misspelling things, skipping lines, missing words. There are so many words underlined in red that I give up, shutting the laptop.

Ino and Tenten aren't in the common room when I get there, so I hike my bag higher on my shoulder and head for their room.

Their room is only six down from mine, which is how I met them. The day after they'd moved in, the first time I had the room alone since Blake walked in the door, I was unpacking, and someone had knocked at the door. I went to answer it, and the next thing I know there's this blonde girl sitting on my bed, telling me her life story, while her friend stood in the doorway, looking both pleased and apologetic.

Apparently, or so Tenten told me later, I was the only one who allowed Ino through the door, which is why I'm now stuck with the two of them. Ino pushed into my life without invitation, and she brought Tenten along like a carry-on bag. Not that I mind. Befriending the two of them is probably the only exciting thing I've done since I got here. Well, it was. I'm pretty sure having sex with Sasuke is now on that list.

When I get to their room, I push the door open. They have a whiteboard on the door that Ino obsessively uses to let people know if they're in the room, out of the room, or in the room and want to be alone. Right now it reads 'COME IN!' with a sloppy smiley face beside it.

I find the two of them stuffed on Ino's bed, a box of pizza between them. Tenten's sitting with her legs neatly crossed, taking up as little room as possible. Ino is spread out, limbs everywhere, lying on her stomach while she shoves a slice of pizza in her mouth. Which is such a good representation of both of their personalities, really.

"Hungry?" Tenten asks, nudging the box towards the edge of the bed. "Help yourself. My mom sent me extra cash this week."

I nod mutely and take a piece of pizza, picking off the slices of pepperoni before I take a bite. It's not hot anymore, but it's greasy and cheesy and delicious anyway. I chew as I sink onto Ino's bed, pulling my legs up, before asking, "Can I stay here tonight?"

"Are you going to spend the whole night bitching about whatever it is Sasuke did that makes you not want to stay in your own room?" Cadence inquires.

I look down at my food. "No."

"Hey," Tenten says softly, "You okay? Did he do something?"

Sasuke always does something," Ino reminds her.

Which is true, but this time it's as much my fault as it is Sasuke's.

"No," I find myself saying. "He, uh, didn't do anything."

"Why do you sound weird?" Ino asks. "You look weird, too."

I flush. I stuff the pizza into my mouth to avoid answering for a moment. It doesn't taste good anymore. It's like chewy cardboard. But I can't put it off forever, and my slice of pizza is gone too quickly. I run a hand through my hair, eyes downcast, and whisper, "I had sex with Sasuke."

"What was that? Couldn't hear you," Ino says.

"I had sex," I repeat, "with Sasuke. Okay?"

When I look up, Tenten's frozen, pizza half to her mouth. Ino is gaping at me like I have two heads, and it's so fucking quiet. And I know, if the roles were reversed, that I'd be gaping at myself too.

"Holy shit," Ino breathes. "Holy fucking shit." She turns to Tenten. "You owe me fifty bucks."

"You were betting on this happening?" I demand. "Really?"

Ino shakes her head. "Don't try to turn this around. I want the details. Like, explicit details."

"I just want to forget it happened," I mutter.

"Ooh, it was bad, huh?" Ino says. "I knew it. All those muscles are compensating for a little dick, right? Called it."

I throw my crust in Ino's direction. It hits her arm and she doesn't even blink or move to throw it out, so Tenten leans over her and tosses it in the pizza box with three other uneaten crusts.

"You can stay," she adds. "You can have my bed. I'll sleep in Ino's."

"Yeah," Ino agrees. "No problem. You know you're always welcome here."

I nod. "Thanks."

"Now, just give me a vague outline. Like, hold your hands apart. How big was it?"

Disclaimer: Naruto and the Roommates are the property of their respective owners. I am is in no way associated with 9the owners, creators, or producers of the material. I don't own anything. I didn't write this story only put Naruto characters in place of the original characters. I didn't write this story only replaced various things. The original is by Ashley Love.


	6. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: Naruto and the Roommates are the property of their respective owners. I am is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of the material. I don't own anything. I didn't write this story only put Naruto characters in place of the original characters. I didn't write this story only replaced various things. The original is by Ashley Love.

Chapter 5

Sakura POV

The week starts with me and Sasuke tiptoeing around each other. I stay at Ino and Tenten's Saturday night, but I can't avoid my room forever. When I get back, Sasuke isn't there, and I breathe out a sigh of relief before changing, putting in my headphones, and working on my paper. By the time he gets back, I've finished it.

Sasuke, for his part, treats me like I'm another piece of furniture. We don't look at each other; we don't speak; we don't even argue. He works out at the gym, I don't play my music in the room once. On Tuesday when Sasuke has one of his teammates in the room, showing him something on his laptop, I walk right back out instead of plunking myself down on my own bed just to irritate him. On Thursday when he leaves his sweaty clothes around the room after practice, I bite my tongue instead of yelling at him.

It isn't until Friday that things go back to normal. It happens fairly easily, too. I'm doing my homework, Sasuke's throwing a ball up into the air while lying flat on his bed, and he randomly says, "I still don't like you. And you hit your keys too hard."

I pause, turning to him. "I still don't like you, either."

"Good." Sasuke throws the ball, it nearly hits the ceiling, and then he gracefully, swiftly catches it as it falls back down. "I don't want you to think that just because we, like, whatever, that I suddenly can stand you or something. Because I can't."

"Like having sex with you would change the fact that you're an asshole," I spit.

Sasuke gets off the bed, dropping the ball to the floor. It rolls under my bed. "Go to hell, Sakura," he mutters, heading for the door. He slams it behind himself on his way out.

When he's gone, I can suddenly breathe again. It's like I was holding my breath all week, hoping that what happened hadn't changed things. Because it didn't, not for me. Sasuke still makes my blood boil. I still want to punch the guy. But I'd feel...guilty, maybe? If things changed for him. But they hadn't, he's still a dick, and I like it better this way. It's like being on even ground again. It's easier when we hate each other because I know what to expect. This whole week has been the opposite.

I grin to myself as I get back to work.

Disclaimer: Naruto and the Roommates are the property of their respective owners. I am is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of the material. I don't own anything. I didn't write this story only put Naruto characters in place of the original characters. I didn't write this story only replaced various things. The original is by Ashley Love.


	7. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: Naruto and the Roommates are the property of their respective owners. I am is in no way associated with 9the owners, creators, or producers of the material. I don't own anything. I didn't write this story only put Naruto characters in place of the original characters. I didn't write this story only replaced various things. The original is by Ashley Love. **

**Authors Note: Please vote on the poll for Octobers update order**

Chapter 6

Sakura POV

My mom calls me on Monday, between my second and third class of the day, when I'm walking to the coffee shop to get something to wake me up. I tug my phone out of my pocket, read her name on the screen, and hit 'talk' immediately.

"Hey, sweetie," she says brightly. "How's my genius daughter?"

I smile, stop to plunk myself down on a bench. I pull my cigarettes from my bag while saying, "Hey, Mom."

"Are you smoking?" she demands, just as I flick my lighter. "I thought you quit."

I groan, putting the cigarette back in the pack. "I'm quit_ting_," I correct. "Slowly. School is stressful."

"But you're keeping up your grades, right? You're attending all your classes, not slacking off?"

"Of course," I say instantly.

Like I _could _slack off. If I slacked off, I'd lose my scholarship, and we don't have a lot of money, my family. I'm the first to go to university or college. Hell, aside from my sister, Misaki, I was the first to graduate high school. I can't afford not to bust my ass. I can't afford to slack at all, to miss classes or get behind on my work. If I lose my scholarship, I lose my future. Not just the distant one, but the immediate one. I'd lose my monthly funding, I'd lose my dorm room. I'd be so, so fucked.

And everyone would be so disappointed in me. I remember, when I got accepted, full ride, how proud everyone had been of me. How my mom cried and my dad had slapped my shoulder and said, "I always knew you could do it." How my parents had thrown a huge party and invited all their closest friends to brag about it. How they'd saved up for months to get me my laptop and other supplies.

I'd be disappointed in myself, too. And it would have all been for nothing. The past four years of pushing myself to exhaustion. Of giving up those years of high school where I was supposed to be a teenager. Where I was supposed to go to parties and hang out with friends and skip class to smoke weed underneath the bleachers. Years I'd instead spent doing homework. Doing extracurriculars because they looked good on applications. Years where I'd missed out on school dances and that one party I'd been invited to.

Not that I hadn't made _some _friends, only they were like me. They worked hard, and they were too busy planning for the future to live in the now. So while I didn't sit alone at lunch, while I had someone to work on projects within classes, to bitch about the other kids with, I didn't have someone to hang out with after school. I didn't have someone to call me in the middle of the night just to talk about their parents fighting, or their boyfriend breaking up with them.

Except for Sasori but I don't like to think about Sasori all that often. When I graduated, left home, I'd left that part of myself, too. It's easier this way.

"That's good, then," my mother says, her voice getting thicker. "I'm so proud of you. You know that yeah? We're all so, so proud of you."

"_Mom_," I whine. "Don't cry, okay? I've been gone for months. I thought we talked about this. No getting emotional."

"I'm sorry," she blubbers. "I just love you, and I want the very best for you. You deserve that. You deserve more than that."

"I have to go," I say abruptly. My own eyes burn, and the girl who walks past me gives me a funny look. "I have class. I'll talk to you soon."

"You better!" my mom says. "I love you."

"Love you. Tell the girls I said I miss them and tell Dad I love him, too."

"Will do," she promises. "Bye."

When I've got my phone in my pocket, I put my cigarettes back in my bag and head for the coffee shop. I still have about twenty minutes before class, which gives me enough time to wait in the always impossibly long line for a drink and maybe something to eat.

As predicted, the shop is packed. The line is to the door, and every single table is filled to the point of brimming, extra chairs pulled around the edges just to fit people in. It's the only place on campus, aside from the cafeteria, to get anything to eat or drink. This means that, unless you have a car or a lot of time to spare, it's your only option.

"Sakura!"

I almost don't react to it. Unless it's Ino or Tenten, hardly anyone talks to me. But I turn, find Naruto two people behind me in line, and hesitantly smile. Next thing I know, he's line hopping, butting in front of people to stand beside me.

"You just saved me, like, five minutes," he says. Behind us, people grumble about him jumping ahead. "Thanks."

"Uh, no problem," I say, but I didn't do anything.

Naruto nods. He's got a backpack hanging off one shoulder, sunglasses on his face even though we're still inside. He's also wearing his jersey, and I distinctly remember someone mentioning the game on Thursday. Or everyone because sports is a big thing around here, and it's all anyone can talk about most of the time. Plus, I room with Sasuke, which means I get an unofficial game schedule.

Around game days, Sasuke turns into a ball of nerves and angst. He swallowed nervously around the room, working out more than he should, blasting his music until I or our neighbours complain, and then he'll put in his headphones and stomp out of the room. He gets extra moody, snapping at me for the most minuscule things, even ones that he's aware are stupid and petty. Like me turning over in the middle of the night, or my alarm going off in the morning to wake me up for class.

"You should come," Naruto says, like his train of thought is running on the same track as mine. "To the game. I don't think I've ever seen you at a game."

I snort, I can't help it. "How would you even know? Hundreds of people attend those games. There's no way you'd have noticed me if I went."

"True," Naruto says, "but Sasuke says you never go."

"Not my thing," I admit. We shuffle forward a few feet. "Don't have the time, most days. And it's not my scene. I don't really like sports."

"School pride, though!" Naruto says loudly. "You gotta attend at least one game, dude. You should come on Thursday. Bring your friends. Afterwards, we always have a big party at Neji's house. It's different than the last one we went to, promise. It's more laid back. The whole team goes."

I make a face. "I don't really think that—"

"Seriously," Naruto says lowly. "Some people would kill for an invite to that party. You realize that, right? It's hard to get in if you're not on the team. But I want you to come."

I'm aware of the fact that Naruto has no idea how much of a douche he sounded like, saying that. I know it wasn't meant to be malicious or 'We're better than everyone' but it sort of was, acting like I should be jumping at the opportunity just because it was a 'cool' party for 'cool' people or whatever. But Naruto isn't like that, I know. He's just...a a little naive, maybe.

"I don't know," I eventually say. We're almost at the counter now, and I'm grateful. "I'll think about it?"

Naruto grins. "You should. Let Sasuke know what you decide." His eyebrows draw together. "Actually, don't do that. He'd probably not tell me because he hates you. Just, uh, let me know. I'll give you my number."

"That's really not—"

Naruto is already pulling a pen out of his bag, grabbing my arm to scribble his number down, avoiding the tattoos there that I had gotten over the past couple of years. They're the only things I've asked for in years because I know my parents don't have a lot of money and they can't get me concert tickets, or a car or something like that for my birthday or graduation. Instead, I asked for tattoos, because I like them, like the way they look and their permanence, and my mom's brother has a tattoo shop so I get them done for cheap.

Though they don't exactly fit with the rest of my look, I know. And I remember how surprised Tenten and Ino had looked when they first saw them, and Tenten's "Shit, here I thought you were a nerd. Damn, cool ink."

"You don't have to," Naruto adds when he's done, recapped pen safe and sound in his bag once more. "If you really don't want to, don't feel bad. But if you decide you do, just text me. Or text me whenever, for any reason."

"Okay," I agree, a little too stunned to do much more. "I—I will."

"Can I help you?" the barista asks, and I roll my sleeve back down and order myself a coffee.

**Authors Note: Please vote on the poll for Octobers update order**

**Disclaimer: Naruto and the Roommates are the property of their respective owners. I am is in no way associated with 9the owners, creators, or producers of the material. I don't own anything. I didn't write this story only put Naruto characters in place of the original characters. I didn't write this story only replaced various things. The original is by Ashley Love. **


	8. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: Naruto and the Roommates are the property of their respective owners. I am is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of the material. I don't own anything. I didn't write this story only put Naruto characters in place of the original characters. I didn't write this story only replaced various things. The original is by Ashley Love.

Authors Note: Please vote on the poll for Octobers update order

Chapter 7

Sakura POV

The library, more than anything, is my favourite place on campus. It might just be my favourite place in the whole world, actually. Maybe it's the books, which I've always been drawn to. Aisle after aisle, shelf after shelf of books. Or maybe it's because no one bothers me in the library. Everyone's too busy doing their own thing to talk to anyone else. And it's also the only sure fireplace that Sasuke never, ever, goes.

Which is why I nearly have a heart attack when I reach up to grab a book, tug it off the shelf, and turn to find Sasuke behind me. He looks so out of place. He's wearing his jersey today, unsurprisingly (it's like the team lives in those things during weeks that they have an upcoming game), and it's like seeing a lion in the middle of the ocean. It's like seeing a shark in the desert. It doesn't make sense.

"What are you doing here?" I demand.

Sasuke looks uncomfortable, too. He shifts on his feet, crosses his arms over his chest, looks around. Maybe he's afraid of someone seeing him here or something.

"I just—" He cuts off, running a hand through his dark hair. "You need to tell Naruto you don't want to go to the party."

I let my arm drop to my side, book held precariously in my fingertips. "I wasn't planning on going to the stupid party anyway," I respond.

"Good," Sasuke snaps. "I don't know why he'd even invite you. You wouldn't belong there."

I raise my eyebrows, and that comment stings, just a little. But it comes from Sasuke so I don't let it bother me. "Did you really come all the way in here just to tell me that? How long did it take you to find the library, anyway?"

Sasuke glares at me for that. "Just text Naruto and tell him you don't want to go, but don't tell him I told you to."

I lean against the shelf. "And what's in it for me?"

"What's—You don't even want to go!" Sasuke grits out. In the distance, someone shushes him. "You don't even want to go," he repeats, quieter. "So just tell Naruto that."

This isn't surprising. Sasuke goes from asshole to major asshole the closer he gets to a game. The fact that he went out of his way to come tell me not to go the party probably has more to do with the fact that he needs an outlet for his nerves, and I always seem to be it. That doesn't mean that it pisses me off any less.

"Maybe I want to go, actually," I say. "You know, I think I will." I lean the book on the shelf and pull out my phone, bringing up Naruto's contact. "I'll ask Naruto what time I need to be ready—"

My phone is tugged out of my fingers without warning. I reach for it, but Sasuke holds it behind his back, his stupid bushy eyebrows furrowed together.

"Why do you always have to be difficult?" he hisses.

"Give me my phone back," I say carefully, going from irritated but amused to pissed in seconds. "How many times do I have to tell you not to touch my stuff?"

Sasuke slowly backs away from me, a grin on his face. He quickly types things out on my phone, while I gape at him.

"There," he says. "I told Naruto for you. You're welcome."

He tosses the phone and I scramble to catch it, and I only just manage. The thing is, Sasuke's an idiot. If he hadn't said anything, if he hadn't gone out of his way to make sure that I didn't go, then I wouldn't have. I had no intentions of going to that fucking party. I hadn't even told Ino or Tenten about it because I knew they'd try to persuade me. But there's something about Sasuke telling me not to that makes me want to.

Which is why I press Naruto's contact and hit 'talk'.

"What are you doing?" Sasuke asks as I bring the phone to my ear.

"Hey, Naruto," I say cheerfully. "I was just—"

Fingers wrap around my wrist, slowly pulling my hand down. I don't even fight Sasuke on it, not when he's this close, his dark eyes clouding my vision. He smells like heavy body spray, that same shit that he cakes on every morning, that gives me a headache, most of the time, but right now sort of smells...good. I can hear Naruto's voice through the speaker, too quiet to pick up on the words when the phone is lowered to my side.

Sasuke presses the button to end the call before he kisses me. Just like the first time, there's nothing soft or pleasant about the kiss. It's a clang of teeth, of lips pressed hard together, rough and angry. The phone tumbles from my fingers as I reach my hands up to fist in the back of Sasuke's shirt.

It hurts, the way Sasuke's pushing me against the bookshelf, but his hands are under my shirt almost instantly, fingertips sliding up my back, over my shoulder blades before sliding back down, skimming over my ribs. My lips part, and it gets even more violent, the way Sasuke tries to dominate the kiss but I fight him on it, pushing my body hard against his, tongue insistently curling against his as my head swims, not enough oxygen getting into my lungs.

When Sasuke's lips move off mine so he can bite along my jaw, I grit out, "You can't tell me what to do, you know."

Sasuke bites sharply at my neck in retaliation. "You don't even want to go," he argues. "You're so fucking infuriating."

I tilt my head back, giving him more access as his lips and teeth attack my neck. "Pretty big word there, Sasuke," I gasp out. "Fuck."

Sasuke's fingers fumble with the button on my jeans, and it hits me like a brick, the fact that we're in the library. The fact that we're in the library and Sasuke (fucking Sasuke) is trying to get my jeans off. Succeeding, really, because he's tugging down the zipper too, hand crawling into my panties.

"Wait, wait," I breathe. "Sasuke—"

He pulls back abruptly. His cheeks are red, and his lips are puffy and parted and slick. He steps right away from me as if I burned him.

"We're in the library," I explain, for some reason regretful that Sasuke's no longer touching me. Weakly, I add, "Someone could see."

I'm not sure what happened, but Sasuke is back on me instantly, kissing me again as he undoes the button on his own jeans. He grinds me into the shelf, hips rolling against mine, the button of his jeans digging painfully into my hip but I don't really care. He's hard against me, and I'm wet, and the only thing I do care about is the fact that we could get caught. Anyone, at any moment, could come into this aisle and see us. There'd be no denying what we're doing, and I can't afford to get banned from the library, I really can't.

Only...Sasuke's hand is in my panties again, and he's got a finger inside me, pumping it slowly as he sucks at my collarbone. My traitorous body arches into the touch, pushing up into his hand as a moan slips between my lips. I need to stop this, I know I do because the first time was a bad enough idea. This...this is worse than the first time, because not only am I hooking up with Sasuke, which in itself is at the top of the list of 'Stupidest Things I Have Ever Done', we're also in the fucking library.

So it makes no sense that I push my hands down the back of Sasuke's pants, pulling us closer together while simultaneously trying to pull his boxers down. Sasuke's hand is suddenly gone, and the elastic of my underwear snaps against my stomach until Sasuke pushes them down a bit, doing the same to his own boxers. He keeps a hand around my back, between the shelf and my body, to hold us together while the other grabs at my hair.

My moan tangles with Sasuke's when we slide together just right, but it's not good enough. I could cum like this, sure, but it'll take forever, and I'm frustrated enough already. It's no surprise that Sasuke does this to me, makes me feel crazy and so fucking heated because it's always been like that. Only right now we're sort of channelling that rage into fucking instead of yelling at each other.

"You need to be quiet," Sasuke grunts. He pulls back, resting his forehead against mine, fitting his hands between our bodies. He sticks two fingers inside me while wrapping his other hand around his dick, and I think that, despite his words, he wants me to be loud. "Don't want someone to hear us, do you?"

"N-no," I let out. When Sasuke speeds up, the wet sound of skin on skin loud in the very quiet library, my hand falls flat against his shoulder, fingers curling, trying to hold on because I feel like I'm falling, that swooping in my stomach again. "Fuck, Sasuke."

Sasuke chuckles, rough and low. "Say it again," he orders, still managing to pump his dick with one hand while fingering me with the other, getting us both off at the same time. "Moan my name again."

I try to glare at him, but Sasuke's thumb glides over the tip of my clit and instead I close my eyes, head tilting back against the shelf. "Fuck you," I still get out.

Sasuke rubs my clit sharply at that. "Does it bother you?" he asks, lips at my neck again. "The fact that it feels this good. That I'm the one doing this to you, and you like it so much?"

My head slams into the spine of a book, and it hurts but fuck. I can't tell if it's Sasuke's words or his lips that send shivers through me, but it doesn't really matter because either way, they're still because of Sasuke. That heat in my stomach is still Sasuke. My gasping breaths are Sasuke's, my whimpering moans are Sasuke's; at that moment, I'm Sasuke's. And he knows it.

"Why are you talking?" I whine. There's no other word for it. "Just...Sasuke."

He chuckles against me, but both his hands speed up its movements, me pathetically grinding up into his hand, and the sound dies in his throat. Just like the first time, his teeth clamp down on my shoulder when he cums. He doesn't stop, except for the slight hitch in his movements as his body shudders. He pants against my neck, and I'm a mess with his slick fingers working me over. I'm not even trying to be quiet, at this point, as my hands grip the edges of the shelf and Sasuke's free hand comes up to cover my mouth.

That's probably a good thing, because I cum seconds later, choking back an embarrassing sound that Sasuke's fingers muffle. He wipes his hand on my panties, and I would glare at him for it if I could think.

He smirks, does up his own jeans, and then he leans in to whisper in my ear, "You look good wrecked," and then he's sauntering down the aisle, disappearing from sight.

I stare at his back before hurrying to do up my own jeans, making a face at the sticky mess Sasuke's made of my panties. Fuck, now I'm going to have to go change, but that's not really the biggest issue here, is it? No, the whole thing is a big issue, because I just hooked up with Sasuke again. And fuck if it wasn't the hottest thing to ever happen to me.

My heart is still racing, my breath is still unsteady, and I feel like my legs aren't strong enough to hold me up. But I bend down to pick up my phone, and I quickly send a text to Naruto.

Forget whatever I said. I'd love to come to the party : )

Authors Note: Please vote on the poll for Octobers update order

Disclaimer: Naruto and the Roommates are the property of their respective owners. I am is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of the material. I don't own anything. I didn't write this story only put Naruto characters in place of the original characters. I didn't write this story only replaced various things. The original is by Ashley Love.


	9. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: Naruto and the Roommates are the property of their respective owners. I am in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of the material. I don't own anything. I didn't write this story only put Naruto characters in place of the original characters. I didn't write this story only replaced various things. The original is by Ashley Love.

_**Please vote on the poll in my profile for the next month's updates order**_

Chapter 8

Sakura POV

Ino and Tenten go to the game, but I stay in my room. They always go to games, though. Tenten is a big sports fan, and she refuses to miss any of the home games. And Ino isn't a big sports fan, but she's a big Tenten fan so she goes, too. I don't want to. I see no point. For one, I still don't fully understand the game. For another, being stuffed into a hard seat with people crowded around me, everyone shouting, is not my idea of a good time.

Plus, I have work to do. So that's what I do when my room is blissfully empty because Sasuke's too busy on the field. I need to get this done too because I won't have time to work on it tonight, not when I already have plans.

Fuck. Am I really going through with this? Am I really going to go to this party? It's not my scene. There won't be anyone like me there. The guys that are throwing it are the type that I studiously avoid most of the time. Not to mention the fact that Sasuke will be there, and...I would like to avoid Sasuke for the rest of my life, really, because every time we look at each other he smirks this smug little smirk like he knows he has me. It's horrible.

It's even more horrible because he's right.

It's like—every time we're alone together, there's that tension in the air that there always is, only it's different. It's not like the two of us waiting for the other to pick a fight like it used to be. It's me waiting, wondering when Sasuke's going to kiss me again, but I like to think that I wouldn't normally let that happen. That it only happened because I was too pissed at Sasuke the last two times to think rationally. Under normal, calm circumstances, when my whole body doesn't feel like it's burning with anger or something else, I think I'd push him away.

I shake my head, tucking those thoughts away. I focus on my work instead of reading my book for class, writing down important quotes for the paper I'm supposed to write on the antagonist. Only I don't have much left to do. I've been working on it all week, and it's nearly done, and before long I'm turning the last page.

With a sigh, I get out of my chair and head for my dresser. I'm not sure why I do it, but I find myself using the hair gel Tenten gifted to me for no reason other than "You can't just hide it under a beanie every day, Sakura," even though that's exactly what Tenten does.

In tenth grade, I started wearing my hair up because I thought it looked cool, and it was something I stuck with until twelfth grade when I was too busy with school, work, my part-time job, and student council to spend time making myself look better in the morning. Now I push it up into that style again, trying not to think about the fact that I'm actually putting effort into going to this party because that makes me lame, doesn't it? Whatever.

I change too, out of the dirty sweats I'd crawled out of bed and to class because I was exhausted. Lastly, I slide my glasses onto my face, just because. I don't need them all the time. My sight isn't really that bad, but I need them to read, and I like them.

Our team wins the game, unsurprisingly. They always win. I know this because of the guys running up and down the hall, whooping and cheering. In the next hour, our common room will be filled, doors will be left open. That's how everyone celebrates, while I usually lock my door and take advantage of the fact that Sasuke will be out until late that night, getting shitfaced in celebration of the win.

Only tonight I don't do that. Tonight I pull on a sweater, grab my wallet for my I.D. and some cash in case I need to take a cab home, and I head for the statue of the school founder. It's just outside the science building, the closest building to the edge of campus, where I'm supposed to meet Naruto and the others.

It's cold out, the early November air making me pull my sweater in tighter around myself. Ino and Tenten are already at the statue when I get there, Naruto leaning heavily against it. Tenten has white and red paint on her cheeks, and Ino has a tiny smudge of it on her neck like Tenten had rubbed it there while putting her own paint on.

"Sakura!" Naruto says loudly, and then he's engulfing me in a tight hug like that's something that we do. It's not. "Thought you might not show."

"I told you I would," I remind him.

"And it'll piss Sasuke off," Ino adds. "So you know she wouldn't miss a chance to do that."

Naruto laughs. "You two are so crazy," he says. "I think you'd actually like each other if you'd stop fighting for two seconds."

"I think they'd more than like each other," Ino says slyly. Tenten punches her for it, and I'm grateful.

Naruto looks confused by that admission, so I quickly asked, "Are we going now?" before he can question what Ino meant by that.

The four of us walk down the streets lit up by streetlights, the moon already hanging in the sky that's only just turned from navy to deep black. As we walk, as Ino and Tenten chat, and Naruto keeps up with them easily, as if they do this all the time. I'm weirdly nervous. The only thing I can think about is Sasuke telling me not to come.

Naruto wasn't lying when he said this party would be different. First, it's closer to campus, only a short two-minute walk to the single-family home. It's squat, one floor, and music isn't pouring onto the streets. People aren't stumbling to and from the building.

I hang back, letting Naruto go in first, but he holds the door open for all of us, so I have no choice but to step inside.

There are no crowds. The hallway is mostly empty save for one couple making out against the wall. Naruto leads us straight through it towards the kitchen. The kitchen, on the other hand, is fairly crowded. There's a large table, with couples seated all around it. Guys in jerseys with girls on their laps and drinks halfway to their mouths. All of them seem to look up when the four of us walk into the room.

"Naruto!" someone shouts.

"Who the fuck is that?" someone else asks.

"What's up?" Naruto says, nodding. "These are the people I told you I was inviting."

"What's up, Naruto's friends?" someone says, and the others laugh. I shift uncomfortably.

"Drinks," Naruto decides. "Let's get drinks. Any of you want a beer, or we've got, uh, vodka, rum, gin—ew, who the fuck brought that? Shit tastes like rubbing alcohol."

"I'll have a vodka and coke," Ino says. "Thanks."

Naruto nods and grabs plastic cups and begins filling them with the contents from one of the many, many bottles on the counter, all of them ranging from half-empty to completely empty. A cup is pressed into my hands, and I don't even protest it.

Afterward, Naruto leads us out of the room. "We don't hang out in the kitchen," he explains. "Shino and the guys stay up there all night. All they do is a dry hump in the chairs. The real party's downstairs."

Now that he's said it, I can feel it, the music thumping under my feet. We're guided through the house to a door that Naruto opens, and finally, there's the music I've been waiting for, spilling out into the upstairs until I shut the door behind myself.

There's smoke everywhere too, the smell of weed heavy in the air. At the bottom of the stairs, I pause, taking a look around. There's a flat-screen against one wall, a football game (of course) playing. There's a pool table, too, as well as an entire area with nothing but people dancing and a stereo system. There are only about thirty people, though, which can't even be half the amount at the other party.

That's a good thing and a bad thing. Good, because it's not as crowded. Bad, because everyone looks at us. In a larger crowd, it's easier to disappear. In a larger crowd, there's not much individuality. No one cares who you are, what you look like. The smaller the crowd, the closer people start looking.

I ducked my head and sip my drink.

Eventually, the party settles back down around us, and Naruto loops his arm with mine, pulling me through the room. There's a couch, where Sasuke sits with a drink in his hands, watching the TV. There's a girl beside him, the one who puts her feet in his lap. Stupidly, something like annoyance rises in me but I turn my head and pretend it never happened, just as Sasuke lifts his gaze and meets my eyes.

"See?" Naruto says, elbowing me gently. "Better, right? It's not crazy in here. We're just relaxing, you know?"

"Yeah," I say, throat dry. I gulp down my drink, even though it burns.

I have no idea where Ino and Tenten went, though the room isn't all that big. Somehow the two of them always manage to do this, and I have no idea how. They don't mean to, either, and I know it. They get distracted by someone they know, get caught up in trying to find another drink, start chatting to people and forget all about me. I don't fault them for it since I figure the fact that I never come with them to parties plays a big part in them forgetting I'm there on the rare chance that I do.

Naruto invites me to play pool, but I beg off, using going to get a new drink as an excuse. I just...I don't want to be here, is the thing. Sasuke was right, I shouldn't have come, because I don't fit in here. I don't fit in with the beefy guys cheering at the game on the screen with their arms around a pretty girl's waist. I don't fit in with the intoxicated group playing a laughable game of pool. I don't fit in with the people dancing.

There's nowhere here for me.

I started for the stairs to get another drink, but there's a group blocking the bottom, and I don't feel like having to shoulder past them just to get upstairs. Instead, I lean against a wall and suck down the last drops of my drink so it looks like I'm doing something as I wait for them to move.

My gaze shifts around the room, and it lands on Sasuke. He's on the dance floor now, some girl's back pressed against his front. He's got his chin resting on her shoulder, and a hand on her stomach, holding them tightly together. "Ohhh, ohhh, I'm falling, so I'm taking my time on my riiiide" plays from the speakers as Sasuke's eyes meet mine. That smirk spreads over his lips, and I can't turn away, even as Sasuke's lips press to the girl's neck and she tilts her head back. Even as his hand slides lower, dangerously close to the waistband of her skirt. And he's still holding my gaze.

I stomp towards the stairs. I shoulder past the group there without blinking, heading for the kitchen to get a drink, just like Naruto told me to do.

Just as it had been the first time, the kitchen is pretty full. The same couples sit at the table, but now there's a group getting drinks. I wait until they're done to get myself one, but as I'm heading back to the basement, someone blocks my path.

"Sakura, right?" the guy asks.

"Uh, yeah," I say, slow, confused. "Can I—"

"Who invited the nerd?" someone behind him asks.

My cheeks burn. It's not like this is my first time getting picked on (which is what's happening here, I have no doubt in my mind about this), but it's a little surprising. I thought that everyone had outgrown this shit after high school, but apparently it's all the same.

"Excuse me," I grit, trying to move past the guy blocking my way.

The guy moves so he's still blocking my path. Behind him, someone asks, "Hey, maybe she could do my paper for me."

The one in front of him tugs my glasses off my face, putting them on himself. My hands curl at my sides, but I don't move. I'm not stupid, I've been in this situation countless times. It's best to just take it and wait until I can walk away because I don't feel like getting hassled right now. Everyone in this room has about forty pounds on me, at the least, and they're all teammates, which means that if you fuck with one of them, chances are the others will get involved.

"How do I look?" the guy with his glasses asks. "Think I look smarter?"

"Wouldn't take much effort to accomplish that," I mutter.

"What the fuck was that?"

"I said—"

"Yeah, I heard you," the guy spits. "What, you think you're better than us? Is that—"

"Fuck off, Hidan," I hear, just before Sasuke walks into the room. He looks between everyone inside for a long moment before his eyes land on me, and then they're flitting on past me. "Give her the glasses back."

"Come on, Sasuke," the guy—Hidan—says. "I thought you hated this chick."

"Give her back the glasses," Sasuke says, calm and dangerous. "Now."

With a roll of his eyes, Hidan does just that. I fold them and carefully hang them from my collar instead of putting them back on. I'm a little dazed as I sidestep Hidan on my way into the hallway. Did Sasuke just come to my rescue? Did that really just happen?

Someone grabs my arm, but I recognize Sasuke's hands, obviously. They've touched practically my whole body, at this point. "Are you okay?" he asks, looking genuinely concerned. "They didn't, like—"

"I'm fine," I say. A thank you should be tacked on there, but I can't force the words out of my mouth.

"I told you not to come," he says. "I told you that you shouldn't. That you don't fit in here. And look at what happened."

How is saying that any different than what happened in the kitchen? I don't fit in here, and all that happened in the kitchen was a few guys enforcing that as if I wasn't aware and they had to remind me where I stand in these kinds of situations. And here's Sasuke, doing the exact same thing.

Instead of throwing my drink at him, the way I want to, I shove it at him. Sasuke takes it with a confused look, and I spin on my heels, heading for the door. I don't look back once.

Sasuke is one hundred percent right. I shouldn't have come.

On the way back to campus I send Ino and Tenten a text, telling them I left. I send Naruto one, too, because I owe it to the guy. It's not Naruto's fault his friends and teammates are assholes. He was just trying to be nice, inviting me, because like I thought at the time when he asked me to come, he doesn't seem to be all that aware of social status or the fact that some people just do not hang out with other people. That's just how it works, but that's not how it seems to work in Naruto's mind.

People are still celebrating when I get back to the dorms, even though it's a Thursday. I walk past those in the hallway, walk past open doors with music spilling out, and I know that it'll have to end soon, that someone will complain and it'll get blissfully silent. I can't wait.

When I get to the room I lock the door and look at myself in the mirror before messing up my hair so it looks more like it normally does, and then I shut off the lights and fall into bed.

My phone rings six times, and it buzzes across the desk with a text even more, but I don't bother answering it. Instead, I pull my pillow over my head and curl up facing the wall, telling myself I'm not upset. Not with those assholes at the party, not with Sasuke being a good person for five seconds only to revert back to himself right afterward. Not with Sasuke for grinding up on that girl which, for reasons beyond me, seems to stick out above all else.

It's got to be late, maybe two or three, when Sasuke comes into the room. He stumbles, the door shutting loudly behind him, and he laughs at it before turning the lock. He bumps into his own dresser, seems to trip over nothing but his feet (that's what it sounds like, anyway) and he tosses his shoes into the corner of the room before...

He crawls into bed behind me, smelling like a fucking brewery. And I tense, hand curling where it's gripping my pillow to keep it over my head. But Sasuke easily pulls it away from me, even though he's apparently fucking plastered if he honestly thinks this is his bed.

Only he doesn't. He knows it's my bed because he tucks my extra pillow under his head, curls up against my back, and whispers "Go back to sleep," with his lips against my neck.

"What are you doing?" I ask, just as quietly. Sasuke's leg is thrown over mine, and his arm is securely wrapped around my middle, the way it had been with that girl he was dancing with, pulling us closer together. "Sasuke—"

"Shh," he coaxes. His lips gently graze my throat, down to where my neck meets my collarbone. "I'm tired. Go to sleep."

I close my eyes, relax into it. I tell myself it's because I'm too tired. That today was just—it was too much, and maybe it's nice not to sleep alone, for once. To feel someone else's heat warming me through. So I stay perfectly still, keeps my eyes closed, and fall asleep with Sasuke behind me.

_**Please vote on the poll in my profile for the next month's updates order**_


	10. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: Naruto and the Roommates are the property of their respective owners. I am is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of the material. I don't own anything. I didn't write this story only put Naruto characters in place of the original characters. I didn't write this story only replaced various things. The original is by Ashley Love.

Please vote on the poll in my profile for the next month's updates order

Chapter 9

Sakura POV

I wake up in the morning to my alarm going off and Sasuke groaning. And to Sasuke lying half on top of me. At some point in the night I must have turned over, and he had taken advantage of that by crawling onto me, apparently. He's heavy, his limbs weighing me down, and he smells like alcohol in the worst way.

"Wha—" Sasuke lifts his head, looks down at me, and groans again. "Oh, God, I'm going to have to do the walk of shame to my own side of the bedroom," he says as he rolls over, legs falling off the bed. He stands, runs a hand through his messy hair, and looks back down at me. "Why was I in your bed, anyway?"

I'm red and I know it. It's a good question, really, but I don't know how to answer it.

"You, uh, came in drunk," I start, while Sasuke makes an impatient sound. "I don't know, okay?! You crawled into my fucking bed and I was too tired to kick you out."

Sasuke gives me an unreadable look at that. "So we didn't, you know..."

"No, we didn't," I respond. I push myself up, eyes narrowed. I'm in a bad mood. I'm so fucking tired. And Sasuke's pissing me off without even doing anything today. Maybe it's just leftover anger from yesterday, bleeding into my mood for today.

"Are we going to ever talk about the times that we did?" he wonders.

I freeze, hand halfway to my drawer. I suck in a breath and open it, pulling out clean clothes, and then I slammed it shut. My back is still to Sasuke when I say lowly, "No." I don't want to talk about it. In fact, I'd love to act like it never happened. That it never happened twice, technically.

"It's just going to happen again," Sasuke says to my back.

I turn to him, eyes narrowed. I scoff. "Don't count on it."

He smirks. "You might hate me," he says, "but that doesn't mean you don't want me."

Fuck the shower. Fuck changing. I grab my backpack and head for the door. "That's exactly what it means!" I shout before slamming it.

I'm early to my first class, but I'm distracted. It's a boring class, admittedly, and I have to force myself to pay attention every day, especially given the time that the class starts. Today I just don't have it in me to do that. But it's not like I can skip and miss out on anything, because I don't know anyone in this class and I have no one I could borrow notes from if I decided to bail.

And I refuse to let this thing with Sasuke complicate my academic life.

As I'm walking to my second class of the day, bag slipping down my shoulders because they're so slumped with exhaustion, I pass a bulletin board and stop. The lime green of the flyer is what caught my eye, a startling bright contrast to the rest of the black and white ads.

**_Charity Art Class,_** reads the bold headline. My eyes scan over the rest of the words quickly. Apparently it's a six-week art class held at the school between the middle of November to just before the Christmas holidays, where the students are taught amateur painting, sculpting and drawing twice a week, at the end of which they'll hold an auction where a final piece by each student will be sold, all proceeds going to charity.

There isn't a number left to call, but it simply states that anyone interested is welcome at the free first-day orientation on Monday in Art Room 2 in the west wing at seven.

I really don't have the time for something like this. There's no room on my plate for an art club, on top of everything else. But I find myself pulling out my phone and taking a picture of the ad anyway, that way I won't forget the details. It'd be nice to do something just for myself. Something that I don't have to stress over. Something for fun.

I'm still not sure, all through my classes, but when I head to my room afterwards, I find myself deterring, heading for Ino and Tenten's room instead. This time the whiteboard reads Ino is out, Tenten is in, and I knock quickly before pushing open the door.

Tenten looked up at me from behind her laptop, which she has on her chest while she lies down against the pillows. "Hey," she says, and then she sneezes and makes a pitiful sound. "Come sit."

I shut the door and eyed her warily. "Are you sick?"

"A bit," Tenten admits. She sneezes again and reaches for a tissue on the desk beside her. "Okay, a lot. I think I have the flu."

"I'm going to stay over here, then," I reply, sinking onto Ino's bed. "Do you, like, need anything? I could go and get you a drink or something, or—"

"Nah, it's fine," Tenten assures me. "Ino's getting me soup and Advil. I'll be okay."

I nod and drum my fingers on my knees. Tenten pushes the laptop off her and rolls onto her side to face me, and I say, "So there's this, like, art class or whatever, starting on Monday, and I thought, I mean, I don't really have the money, and I'd have to eat in the dining hall for weeks instead of—whatever. But it sounds kinda cool."

"The Christmas one, right?" Tenten asks. "With the auction at the end." I nod. "I'll go with you, if that's what you're asking. Sounds cool."

"Really?"

"Yeah," she croaks. "As long as I'm feeling better. It's like I got hit by a train. I was fine last night, but I woke up this morning feeling dead. It's like a hangover and a cold and it really, really sucks."

I give in, moving across the room to sit beside her, germs be damned. I brush her slightly damp curls off her face, and she closes her eyes. She feels hot, like she's burning up, and she's pale except for her fever-bright cheeks. It worries me, just a bit, but I know that Ino would never let anything bad happen to Tenten. Not that she can really fight illnesses, but I'm pretty sure Ino would try damn hard anyway.

"I'm glad we're friends," Tenten whispers. "You're a good person, Sakura. I'm glad. And I think it's dumb that you're having sex with your roommate."

I snorted a laugh. "Is this the fever talking?"

"Maybe," Tenten admits. "It's still dumb, though." She yawns and blinks up at me with dark brown eyes. "The friends with benefits thing never works out."

"Good thing Sasuke and I were never friends," I respond. Not that me and Sasuke have any relationship with any sort of benefits. We're just two people who share a living space, who hate each other and sort of hooked up twice in the heat of the moment. That's all it was. An accident that happened twice, but won't happen again, no matter what Sasuke says.

"Okay, Sakura," Tenten mumbles. "Okay."

Ino comes into the room before I can argue it. She's got a wet cloth hanging off her arm, two bottles of water, a thing of Advil, a Styrofoam container with a lid, a spoon balanced precariously on top of it, and a chocolate bar hanging out of her mouth, wrapper still on. She makes an annoyed sound through the chocolate bar, and I get up to pull it out of her mouth and take the soup from her.

"Thank you," Tenten says. "And Ten, they had no chicken noodle, but I got you cream of broccoli instead. Is that okay?"

"Better than okay," Tenten

says weakly, holding out her hand with her eyes closed. "That sounds perfect."

It's a lie. I've only known Tenten for months, but we spend a lot of time eating together. Tenten hates cream of broccoli soup, and I know this for a fact because she wrinkles her nose every time I eat it and refuses to touch a bite herself, even if it's the only option. But when Ino pops off the lid and holds the bowl for her while she spoons it up, she clears half the bowl in about a minute. I think that probably has more to do with not wanting to hurt Ino's feelings than it does with how sick she is.

"I'm gonna go," I say. "I think Ino's got you covered."

"Later, Sakura," Tenten calls after me. Ino is too busy cooing at Tenten to say goodbye. "Love you!"

"Yeah, same," I say back.

Despite the fact that my best friend is sick, I'm in a great mood when I make it back to my room, and even Sasuke's presence inside doesn't irritate me. Probably because he's asleep, and while the snoring is annoying, it's much easier to deal with than the sounds he makes when he's conscious.

I grab a book from my shelf and spread out on my bed. It's been a while since I've done a bit of casual reading; nothing for class, just for my enjoyment. Maybe some people don't like reading the same book over, but I've read this one eight times, and it's just as good every time. I love rereading books, honestly. I like picking up on important details I'd missed the last time. I like revisiting old characters like old friends.

I'm about one hundred pages in when someone knocks at the door. Sasuke, in his bed, turns over and grunts, "Get it, Sakura," before throwing an arm over his eyes. I make a face at him but bookmark my page and head for the door.

Ino is standing on the other side, a sheepish look on her face. "Ten wanted to know if we could borrow one of your books. She says she's too exhausted to watch a movie, and it's sort of a thing we do whenever she's sick. I read to her, she pretends to listen, and then she passes out. But I don't have anything in my room but my chemistry textbook, and I think I'd pass out before her if I read that."

I push the door open wider. "Sure," I say. "Take anything on the shelf."

Ino nods and stands on my bed to reach it. She doesn't even look at the title or read the blurb on the back. She just grabs the first book she touches and tugs it down.

"By the way," she adds on her way back out the door, "Tenten mentioned an art club thing you two were going to do. Is there, like, a set number of people that can sign up? Or can I join too?"

"The ad didn't say," I admit. "But you should come. The orientations free, so even if it's a bust all we're wasting is like an hour or something."

"Cool," Ino says happily. "Where and when?"

"Monday in Art Room 2 at seven."

"Brilliant. Thanks." Ino pats me on the shoulder before heading down the hall.

I shut and locked the door behind her, going back to my book. I get about five pages more read before Sasuke grunts and flips over. Six and he rolls back over to the other side of his bed. Nine and he's making a low, keening sound in the back of his throat. Fifteen and he's grunting, so I slam my book shut and sit up.

"Are you jerking off over there?" I demand.

Sasuke gasped out, "No. I think I'm dying."

I take a good look at him. Red cheeks, puffy eyes, sweating profusely. He's got the blankets kicked off himself, and he's curled up into a pathetic-looking, muscular ball.

"Shit," I say. "You're sick, too?"

He groans again, but he has the energy to snap, "No, I feel fucking fantastic."

I bite my lip. He looks pretty pitiful, Sasuke. So much so that even I feel sort of bad for him. Only Sasuke's not my friend; Sasuke's not someone I even remotely like; Sasuke is so, so not my problem.

"That really sucks, Sasuke," I say apathetically, before going back to my book.

"Fuck, I hate you," he groans. "I hate you more than I think I've ever hated someone in my entire life."

I would glare at him, but that would take effort, so instead I hum my agreement and turn the page. Ten minutes later and he's back asleep, and I stand up to stretch. He rolls over, but he doesn't seem to be awake, and I lock the guilt inside me in a tiny box and throw away the key, refusing to let it get to me.

I leave the room, if only to get away from the ridiculous groans of pain Sasuke lets out every few minutes, like clockwork. I can't go down the hall to visit Ino and Tenten, though, because I figure Tenten would be trying to sleep right now. And the common room is packed with people when I get there, so I headed down the stairs and out into the cool air.

By the time I'm done with my cigarette I go straight into the coffee shop and order myself a drink, and then I ask for a bowl of whatever soup they have before I realize I'm doing it. I don't really have the money to, either. My budget is pretty tight, but...

"For here or to go?" the woman behind the counter asks.

"To go."

I juggle the scalding hot container of soup and coffee all the way back to my room. Sasuke is still asleep, so I put them both down and shake him awake.

"Sasuke," I coax. "Sasuke, wake up."

Slowly his onyx eyes blink open. They're bloodshot and exhausted, and concern bubbles up inside me before I can stop it. I put a hand to his forehead and wince at how hot it is, and his fingers circle my wrist, holding me there for a beat before letting it drop.

"Kill me," he groans. "I know you've thought about it. Just do it. I'm begging you."

I roll my eyes at the dramatics. "I got you soup," I simply say. "If you want it, it's on the desk."

Sasuke doesn't move, and I go back to my book, no longer guilty.

Please vote on the poll in my profile for the next month's updates order


	11. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: Naruto and the Roommates are the property of their respective owners. I am is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of the material. I don't own anything.** I didn't write this story only put Naruto characters in place of the original characters.** I didn't write this story only replaced various things. The original is by Ashley Love. Please don't mistake me as the author.

Chapter 10

Sakura POV

"We'll be meeting every Monday at seven, and every Wednesday at eight in this room," the instructor continued, and I shifted in my seat, trying to get more comfortable in the plastic chair. Across from me, Ino is angled in her seat to face the woman at the front of the room, but she's not listening; I can tell. She's got that distant, bored look on her face. "There is a forty dollar enrollment fee, but all of that will go towards supplies you'll be using during the duration of this class. For the class itself, I will be your supervisor, while three of my most talented students will guide you through the different mediums of art being taught in this class. If—"

The door to the room opened, and someone peeks their head in, looking nonchalant.

"Sorry I'm late," he says. "And sorry for interrupting."

"Don't worry, Sasuke," the instructor says pleasantly, with a smile that's just for him. "Nice play at that last game, may I add."

A few people make sounds of agreement, and I put as much contempt into my glare as I can as Sasuke quickly moves towards the table that I'm sharing with Ino, Tenten, and some girl with a nose piercing and hair longer than anyone I've ever met. He slides into the chair next to me with a smirk, legs scraping against the floor loudly.

"—piece will be of your choosing, any piece of art using one of the three mediums taught in this class. On the nineteenth of December we'll be hosting the auction at the time of the annual staff Christmas party, and—"

"What are you _doing _here?" I hiss, leaning close to him but keeping my eyes on the front of the room.

He shrugs. "Figured I could use an extracurricular outside of football," he says casually. "I checked and none of the classes are on days I have practice, so." Another shrug and I'm honestly going to march to the back of the room where the art supplies are, grab a paintbrush, and stuff it down his fucking throat.

"You don't even like this shit," I argue. "How did you even hear about this?"

"You don't know what I do or don't like," Sasuke counters. "And you mentioned it to Ino when I was in the room."

He says it with a smirk, confirming my suspicions. He's only here to irritate me. This one thing I was doing to _relax_, to _enjoy myself_, and of course Sasuke has to ruin it. Of fucking course. But I'll be damned if I don't fight him on it. I'll let it go for now, but as soon as we're out of this room, I'm killing him. Violent and messy. I'll take the life sentence, I don't even care.

For now, I force myself to relax and pay attention. But I barely hear another word the instructor says because I'm too busy seething and trying not to pay attention to Sasuke while simultaneously noticing every time he so much as blinks.

"—need to be in by Wednesday, as well as the forty dollar enrollment fee. There are only thirty spots open in this class, so the faster you get in your application, the better your chances of getting a spot. Any questions?"

A few people raise their hands, but I sink lower in my seat, possibly sulking like a child. I can't help it. And when we're told to get application forms on our way out, I'm one of the first ones to the front of the room, even though I had been sitting near the back. I fold the form twice and shove it in my pocket before pushing out the door, into the hallway.

"You okay?" Ino asks when she and Tenten come out of the room.

I nodded curtly. "I'm fine."

"Then why do you look like you're about to punch someone in the ballsack?"

I cross my arms over my chest and ignore them. "I'm fine. I'll catch up with you guys later."

Ino looks like she wants to stick around, but Tenten grabs her arm and pulls her away. I watch as other people filter out of the room, some in groups and pairs, some alone. Sasuke is the last one out the door, his application held tightly in his hand. And he walks straight past me like he doesn't see me there, smirk in place.

I jog after him. "You won't even enjoy it," I say. "Come on, you're only doing it to piss me off."

He shrugs. "I might like it," he denies. "Who knows, maybe we'll discover a new talent of mine."

"_Sasuke_," I groan angrily. "Let me have this one fucking thing. Do you really need to butt into every aspect of my life?"

"What other aspects of your life have I butted into?" he wonders as he shoulders open the door to get outside.

The door that nearly hits me in the face, but I put my hands out at the last second and hurry after him. "Do you even know what that word means?" I can't help but ask.

Sasuke gives me a look. "I'm taking the class, Sakura, and there's nothing you can do about it."

I reach out, grabbing his arm. I tug him back, and he whirls around instantly, getting much closer than necessary. I blinked at him, words dying in my throat. But then I see the application form sticking out of his pocket, so I grab at it, ready to tear it to shreds. Only Sasuke's fingers wrap around my wrist, stopping me, pulling me in even closer.

"Do you know how attractive you are when you're pissed off?" he asks. He tilts his head, lips grazing my ear, hand sliding up my back. "Now stop arguing with me and let's get back to the room. I can't wait to get you—"

"Not happening," I say. I push at his shoulders and stalk off. "Last time was the last time. It's not fucking happening."

Sasuke easily keeps up with me. "Really?" he chuckles. "Why do I have a feeling that you're just saying that to make yourself feel better?"

"Fuck you," I spit.

We walked like that all the way back to our dorm, me stomping past everyone with my eyes narrowed and my head ducked, Sasuke walking proudly beside me like he's enjoying how upset I am. I want to throttle him. I want to tackle him into the grass and revel in the grunt he'd make as his back hit the hard packed dirt, and then I would—

I shake my head, cutting that fantasy off as I pull the door to our building open wide, wide enough for Sasuke to slip easily in behind me. Both of our feet thunder up the stairs, and I want to turn around and yell at him again, but he just keeps going. Up the stairs, onto our floor. Past people in the hallway, two of whom call out a greeting to him that he returns cheerfully and pleasantly.

Of course, our door is unlocked, something that Sasuke has a habit of doing, no matter how many times I nag him for it. That only adds fuel to my fire. I pace to the desk at the window as soon as I'm inside, and then I whirl around as Sasuke locks the door.

"It's not happening," I say firmly. "Okay? Not happening."

Sasuke shrugs from the middle of the room. "Okay."

For a moment, I debate it. Go over my options. Weigh out the pros and cons. It's a bad idea, giving in to Sasuke again. It's a horrible idea. It's stupid, and I'd regretted it so much the other two times. There's no way I'd even _consider _doing it again. Never in a million years.

I stalk towards him, grabbing his hips. I wish I could burn him with my fingertips the way he burns me with his existence.

"Not happening," I repeat while pushing up his shirt. Sasuke's arms lift obligingly as I tugged the garment off him, tossing it vaguely towards his bed. "I'm not going to sleep with you again."

"Sure," he says. His lips go for my neck, and I tilt my head back. "You keep saying that if it helps."

I scratch my nails across the small of his back. "Not happening," I groan. "This is—this is the last time."

"Mhm." Sasuke bends down, hands going to the back of my thighs, easily lifting me up. My legs automatically go around his waist, and he adds, "Desk. Gonna fuck you on the desk, okay?"

I nod. "Yeah."

Normally my laptop rests on the desk, but I'd put it away before I left. All that's on top of it now is one of my books, a pad of paper, and a single uncapped pen. Sasuke kicks the chair away and holds me up with one hand while swiping the top of the desk clean, brushing everything to the floor like in a really bad porno.

It's not exactly gentle, the way Sasuke drops me heavily on top of the desk. But neither is the way I claw at his back or bite at his skin when he tugs off my jeans and panties, pushing a slicked-up finger into me. This time he drags it out, chuckling against my skin as he works me open slowly, and I'm feebly trying to hurry him up while biting down on the fleshy part of his palm to stop from making noises.

When Sasuke pushes his dick inside me, I'm holding myself up on the palms of my hands, legs around his waist, and he has a hand fisted in my hair, his grip just over the line of too tight. My back arches and my head falls back against nothing. When I cum it's with my sweaty back sticking to the wood of the desk, Sasuke's body blanketing mine.

Afterwards, he pulls out and carefully lifts me off the desk, dropping me gently onto my bed. I collapse against it, too dead to the world to do much else. In the back of my mind, I think that I should probably cover myself up since I'm lying here with my limbs spread, completely exposed, but I need to clean myself up before I tug the blankets over myself.

Sasuke tosses me a towel from across the room, and I struggle to do just that. Sitting up takes effort. Moving my legs, which feel like jello, not strong enough to hold me, takes effort. Sasuke, on the other hand, seems fine as he pulls on his boxers, his back to me.

"We should make this a thing," he says, conversationally, completely casually.

"We really shouldn't," I grunt. "I told you, this was the last time."

Sasuke turns then, and I pull my blankets over myself. "You keep saying that, but I think we both know you don't mean it. But really, we should...I mean, instead of fighting. What if we just took our frustrations out like this? Seems to be working pretty well."

I look up at him with a frown. "You're suggesting we fuck instead of fight."

"Better than punching you in the face, I think." Sasuke shrugs and reaches for his shirt. "Seems like a good alternative."

"Like...friends with benefits," I clarify. "Minus the friends part."

"Exactly." Sasuke does up his jeans. "You think about it. I'm going out."

"Where?" I ask before I can catch myself.

He gives me a weird look. "If that was any of your business, I would have told you," he says on his way out the door.

Across the room, my phone beeps and vibrates from the pocket of my jeans. I sit up, looking around, finding my clothes strewn about. One of my socks on Sasuke's bed, the other on Sasuke's dresser. My panties hanging off the end of my own bed, and jeans on the floor near my shirt. Fuck.

Slowly I crawl out of bed, gathering up my things. When I get my underwear on, I pull my phone out of my jeans and open the message from Tenten.

Just making sure you're ok?

I sigh and send back: _mostly naked and upset, but I'm fine._

The reply is almost instantaneous. I can't figure out how she had enough time to write out the words _told you not to fuck your roommate. Need me and Ino to come cheer you up? _in that short amount of time.

I tell her no and then shut off my phone. Tenten's right; she did tell me not to do it. And I told _myself _not to do it. So why does doing it again sound like such a wonderful, brilliant idea?


	12. 11

Disclaimer: Naruto and the Roommates are the property of their respective owners. I am in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of the material. I don't own anything. I didn't write this story and only put Naruto characters in place of the original characters. I didn't write this story and only replaced various things. The original is by Ashley Love..

Chapter 11

Sakura POV

"Nice alpaca, Ino."

Ino glares at Tenten and covers her picture. "It's a dog," she hisses. "Asshole."

My pencil brushes over the page, shading more than creating rough, sharp edges. The class is, just as I'd wanted, fun. It's not exactly challenging for me, the way it is for, say, Ino, but it's still enjoyable. And it's only for an hour and a half twice a week, which isn't fucking with my schedule as much as I'd worried it would. Plus, I get to spend the whole time at a table with Ino and Tenten, laughing at Ino's failed attempts at drawing, encouraging Tenten's hesitant but fairly talented works. Trying to ignore the fact that Sasuke is sitting right beside me.

Sasuke is as hopeless as Ino. He'd looked completely lost through the original instructions and the demo. He'd looked lost when the art student that was assigned to assist us with this part of the class tried to help him. He's possibly worse than Ino, actually, but when Ino gets annoyed and snappish, Sasuke gets...pouty and frustrated.

"This is so stupid," he mutters.

I sneer at him. "Just because you're not good at it doesn't make it stupid."

"Easy for you to say," he grumbles. "I can actually tell what yours is supposed to be. I'm helpless."

It's true. One hundred percent true. Even the instructor had attempted to help Sasuke before making a face and wandering off when she realized there was no helping him. Whatever he's drawing right now, it looks like a sort of lopsided blob with a nose. Or I think that's a nose. It could very well be a dick.

"I agree with Sasuke," Ino decides. She puts down her pencil. "Drawing is stupid. I can't wait until Monday when we start sculpting."

"It's not completely stupid," Tenten argues. "I mean, not completely, right?"

Ino grabs Tenten's picture from her, holding it up to her face. "Okay, not completely," she relents. "But that's because you're talented. Really talented, Ten. We're hanging this up in the room, in fact. Maybe we'll put it on the door next to the whiteboard, for everyone to appreciate."

Tenten beams. I look at the picture, open my mouth, and Ino kicks me under the table before I can say anything. Not that I would say something bad. It's not a bad drawing at all. It's fairly good, for someone who walked in here with no knowledge of what they were doing. But it's not exactly good enough to warrant Ino's reaction to it.

Sasuke makes an annoyed sound and scratches his pencil harshly across his paper, scribbling out the practice drawings we'd been instructed to work on.

"Stop thinking so much," I find myself saying to him. "You're trying so hard to be perfect at it, but that's not going to just happen."

Sasuke looks up at me, lips parted. He shakes his head and the look disappears. "I'm terrible at it, and I'm sure you know and you're just waiting for the right time to laugh at me about it."

Why does that make me feel bad?

"You are terrible," I admit, and Sasuke's eyes narrow. "No worse than Ino, though."

"Rude," she says from across the table. "Factual, but rude."

That doesn't seem to help Sasuke, who drops his pencil onto the table. "It's humiliating," he says. "I'm not just bad, it's—"

I grab a new piece of paper and shove it at him. "So start over." Sasuke gingerly takes the paper from me. "Did you honestly think you could just, like, pick up a pencil and magically be perfect at it?"

"Maybe," he admits. "If I'm not good at it the first time around, I probably won't ever be. I'm shit at learning things."

I snort before I can stop myself. "That's not surprising at all."

I'm too busy focusing on my drawing of a bird to see the look on Sasuke's face, but I don't miss his low, annoyed, "Right. This is just another thing that makes you better than me."

Finally, I look up, but he's got his eyes on his own paper now, focusing with his eyebrows drawn and his bottom lip sucked into his mouth. I'm not sure how to reply to that comment, so I don't. I go back to drawing, Sasuke continues to work on his own, and Ino keeps praising Tenten while making lame attempts at creating something on her own page.

Eventually, the instructor comes back around. She smiles pleasantly at Tenten, wrinkles her forehead at Ino's 'dog' that honestly does look more like an alpaca than anything, and then compliments my birds before moving on to Sasuke…

Sasuke, who's had his picture covered for the last twenty minutes, arm blocking me from being able to see. Now, the instructor picks it up, and Sasuke's eyes stay on the table as she looks it over before flicking her gaze to me.

"The shape of her face is fairly accurate," she says. "The shading along her jaw is a little heavy, but that's very hard to do. With a bit more practice, this could be great."

Sasuke goes bright red, taking the picture back from her before stuffing it hastily into his pocket. When she walks off, he pushes away from the table and heads for the door, me staring after him.

"What did I miss?" Ino asks, looking between me and the door.

Tenten keeps drawing, but she says with a grin on her face, "Sasuke was secretly drawing Sakura and he didn't want anyone to know, but Kurenai called him out on it and now he's stomped off because he's embarrassed." Her tongue sticks out between her teeth, eyes scanning her own paper. "Do you really think this is good?"

"It's wonderful," Ino says automatically, but her eyes are on me, the look on her face one I don't fully understand.

"That's not what he's upset about," I mumble. "And he wasn't drawing me. He's just pissy because he has a game coming up. That's how he always gets."

"Speaking of which," Ino says. "You're coming to that game with us."

"No, I'm not," I respond. "You know that I don't—"

"Look." Ino splays her hands flat on the table and gives me this look, one that says not to argue. "He joined this stupid class for you, the least you could do is attend one of his games."

My mouth falls open. "He didn't join this class for me!" I protest.

"Please keep it down in the back," the instructor calls from the front of the room.

I flush red and lower my voice, hissing, "He joined it to piss me off, that's all," while glaring at Ino.

"Same difference," she says. "Go to his game to piss him off then. But you're going."

"I have homework," I argue. "I don't have time."

"You can take a few hours out of your time at the library," Ino says, an air of finality in her words that says that I will seriously regret arguing this. And that she'll drag me to the game anyway, even if I don't want to go.

"Fine," I snap. "But I'm bringing my book with me. I'll read while you guys watch."

"Deal," Ino says happily.

"Maybe I'll drop out of school and become a street artist," Tenten says as if she hadn't heard a word of that argument. Ino and I both snort at her.

Disclaimer: Naruto and the Roommates are the property of their respective owners. I am in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of the material. I don't own anything. I didn't write this story and only put Naruto characters in place of the original characters. I didn't write this story and only replaced various things. The original is by Ashley Love.


	13. 12

Disclaimer: Naruto and the Roommates are the property of their respective owners. I am in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of the material. I don't own anything. I didn't write this story and only put Naruto characters in place of the original characters. I didn't write this story and only replaced various things. The original is by Ashley Love..

Chapter 12

Sakura POV

One of the only days that Sasuke actually wakes up in the morning when I do is game days. Every other day of the week, he grumbles about my "stupid fucking alarm" and tends to sleep in. Saturday is no exception to this rule because I hit my alarm, roll over, and Sasuke's already out of bed, doing sit-ups.

"That's kinda hot," I mumble, mind too foggy with sleep to stop myself. I rub my eyes and stretch. "How are you even doing that right now?"

"Have to...keep myself...awake," Sasuke grunts.

I blinked at him, taking in the slightly manic look on his face, hidden under his flushed, sweat covered cheeks. "Did you sleep at all last night?"

"No," he says through panting breaths. "Too busy...freaking out."

"Over the game," I say, just to clarify. I don't mean to sound judgmental about it, but it's kind of habitual, at this point. Sasuke makes fun of me for doing my work and going to the library, I make fun of him for not doing his work and putting all of his focus into a stupid game.

"You wouldn't understand, obviously." He glowers at me when he comes back up. Before I can return the look, he lowers himself back down to the floor.

"Obviously," I sneer. "Whatever. I'm going to take a shower."

"I won't be here when you get back," he says, still on the floor.

"I don't remember asking for your schedule," I snip. I gather my stuff for the shower and head for the door. "You don't have to tell me every time you leave the room. But I'll see you at the game tonight."

Sasuke freezes, hands falling to the ground to hold himself up. "You're coming to the game?" he asks, completely emotionless.

I shrug. "Don't have a choice. Ino is pushy, and she told me I was coming with her."

"Right." Sasuke nods, expression still unreadable.

I slip out the door, but just before it closes shut behind me, I hear a thud and look back to see Sasuke lying flat against the ground, arm thrown over his face as he lets out an exhausted, stress-filled groan.

When I get back to the room, he's in the exact same position, only he's fast asleep. I bite the inside of my lip, considering leaving him like that. I'm not Sasuke's babysitter, okay? But I go over to him anyway and kick him lightly in the shins.

"Sasuke," I call. "You need to at least get in bed."

His eyes open slowly, lids heavy. He reaches out a hand while yawning without covering his mouth. "Help me up?"

I groan. Seriously? I put out my hand, and then I'm being tugged to the ground. Sasuke breaks the fall with his body, me landing directly on top of him. I don't stay there for long though, because he's turning us over easily, trapping me against the floor. He slides a hand through my hair, smirking and suddenly wide awake.

"You're still wet."

"I just got out of the shower," I say, barely enough air in my lungs. "Now get off me. I have to get to the library. I have this group project to work on, and I can't be late."

Sasuke rolls his eyes. "Nothing I can do to persuade you not to go?" he asks.

"No," I say with conviction. "Now get off me." I shove at his shoulders until his weight disappears. I take a halting breath and get up, just as Sasuke grabs his own bag of shower stuff before stomping out of the room, slamming the door behind himself. What the fuck caused that?

Whatever. It's not my problem, whatever it is. I have to hurry to brush my hair and change before running out the door, and I don't have time to worry about Sasuke. Plus, I don't worry about Sasuke in general, whether I have time or not. Right?

Ugh.

No matter how much rushing I do, somehow I'm still late to the group meeting. And somehow that is only the beginning. Since I'm late, the others send me off to get coffee, which makes no sense to me because, like, shouldn't someone be filling me in on what I missed instead of making me miss even more? But I don't complain because they're right, I should have been there on time as the rest of them.

The coffee shop barista screws up one of the orders and I have to go back, and the line is so long that by the time I get the new drink the others are cold. And then I go to bring the coffee into the library, but Shizune stops me with a regretful, apologetic, "Remember the rules, Sakura."

"No food or drinks," I deadpan. There's no way the group I was meeting with didn't know that, so what the fuck was the point of them sending me to get the drinks?

With an annoyed sound, I step back outside and text Karin, the only person in the group whose number I'd thought to get. She says they forgot about the drink ban and tells me to just leave the drinks.

About twenty dollars worth of drinks just left there on the steps outside the library, which is such a waste that it makes my hands curled into fists. And when I get to the table at the back of the library, they're all chuckling while pretending to work. It makes me want to scream, it really does, but I also feel like crying, for some absurd reason. It's like they've decided that one of us has to be the butt of the joke today, and since I was late, I'm it.

But they can't just exclude me from everything, not when the group project is such a big part of our final grade. So when they divvy out things for people to do, I get stuck with research, but at least they're letting me help.

"We'll need that done by tomorrow when we meet up," Sai says. "The research is integral to the rest of the project. Without it, we can't move forward."

I blinked at him. "You've asked me to read three different books," I say quietly. "That's not even possible."

"Make it possible then."

I opened my mouth, but the four of them give me expectant, challenging looks like they want me to fail for some reason. Like they want me to admit I can't do it. And while I have no idea what I did to earn this kind of treatment, I haven't lived with Sasuke for months without learning how to school my anger. So I take calming breaths, scoop up my books and the rest of the stuff I'd brought with me, and nods curtly. "I'll have it done by tomorrow."

I feel like hell when I get back to the room. All I want to do is sleep forever, but I can't. I have to start working now if I ever want to get this done. And I have to get it done tonight if only to prove to those pricks that I can.

By the time Ino knocks on my door before bursting into the room, my head is killing me and my hand is cramped from taking notes.

"What do you want?" I croak. "I'm busy."

Ino gives me a very pointed look, raising her eyebrows while she does. It takes me almost a whole minute to notice the paint streaking her cheeks and the shirt she's wearing the school colours.

"The game," she adds, in case I'm too slow to remember. "The one you agreed to come to."

I rubbed a hand over my face. "I can't," I say. "I really, really can't, Ino."

"Why the hell not?" she demands. "You've known about it for days!"

"That was before I was swamped with work," I snapped. "I can't. I have to read three fucking books by tomorrow at nine, and I don't even know how I'm going to manage that even if I work non-stop until then. I don't have time to go to a stupid fucking football game."

Ino blinks in surprise. "But you told Sasuke you'd go," she tries feebly. "He'll be disappointed."

I scoff. "He'd be happier if I didn't go," I respond. "A lot happier. And how did you even know that I told him?"

"None of your business," she says with a grin. "Now seriously, put that shit away and get ready. We have, like, five minutes. Tenten's saving our seats, and it'll take us time to get to them, and we don't want to miss the beginning."

Why couldn't I have made friends and roomed with someone more like me? I love Ino, I honestly do, but Ino doesn't get it. She slacks almost as much as Sasuke, most of the time. She doesn't understand that I can't just beg off work and do it later. It's not an option for me.

"I'm not going," I say, both exhausted and apologetic. "I really can't."

Maybe it's how stressed I look, maybe it's how exhausted I sound, or maybe it's just Ino being a good friend, but she nods slowly at me, already backing out of the room. "It's fine," she says. "If you need anything, text me. And if you change your mind, we'll save you a seat."

"I won't," I reply, "but thanks."

Ino shuts the door behind herself, and I rest my face against the open book, letting out a long, drawn-out groan of frustration. As soon as that's out of the way, I lift my head and get back to work.

The sky outside my small window goes from a bright, cloudless blue to a darkening navy, stars already pricking the sky despite the fact that the sun is still feebly hanging in the air. I find myself staring out the window for longer than I can really afford to, but then I shake my head and get back to work.

Only, the longer I work the angrier I get. Why do I always have to be the one sacrificing something? Why do I always have to give up something to focus on school and work and everything while everyone else gets to have a good time? How is that fair? And maybe I didn't even want to go to the game. Maybe I don't give a flying fuck about it, but it's the principle of the matter, isn't it?

And that train of thought is why I find myself slipping into an uncomfortable plastic seat, cramped between Ino and some guy that does not look happy to see me there.

"You came!" Ino says happily. She slings an arm over my shoulder. "I knew you would."

"I'm going to be so fucked tomorrow because of this," I admit. "But yeah, I'm here."

Ino pulls me closer, and Tenten leans forward in her seat to grin at me and say, "Sasuke's number seventeen, in case you're wondering."

My eyes flit over the field. I have no idea what the fuck is happening, honestly, but I spot Sasuke in the distance, his jersey spread taut over his protective pads, the pants of his uniform hugging him tightly. I haven't ever actually seen him in full gear before but it's, uh...It's a good look on him, actually.

"Why would I care?" I say anyway. "I'm not here for Sasuke."

"Sure you're not," Ino teases.

"I'm here because you didn't give me much of a choice," I reminded her. "And I was ready to pull my hair out from my work. I needed a break."

Despite those words, I keep my eyes on Sasuke the whole game. People cheer, people boo, and I can't tell what makes them do one or the other. All I know is that Sasuke's a red and white blur on the field at times, and at one point someone slams hard into him and everyone in the immediate area goes quiet. I stand up, not exactly sure why I do, hands clenched into fists. I don't sit back down until Sasuke's back on his feet.

When the whole team converges near the benches, Sasuke jogs towards the group and pulls his helmet off. There are so many people in the stands, and there's no way he notices me out of all of them, but he's looking in my direction, a smirk on his face until Naruto elbows him in the side.

At some point more than half of the people in the stands erupted in cheers, and I looked around, dazed, about ready to cover my ears from the onslaught of sound.

"What the fuck happened?" I yell at Ino.

"We won!"

Maybe attending football games on a regular basis isn't something I'm about to do, but even I have to admit that there's something...thrilling about it. I'm going to have to look up online later to see what I'm missing, to figure out what happened on the field below so that next time (if there's a next time) I'll feel a little more in the loop.

Getting out of the stands isn't exactly fun, though. There are so many people, everyone rushing to get out first. Ino's hands are on my shoulders, but I'm still having difficulty moving through the throng of people. Somehow we manage it though, and I breathe a sigh of relief when I'm no longer worried about being trampled.

"So?" Tenten asks. "Fun or what?"

I shrug, lips twitching. I zip my sweater up higher and say, "It's freezing out here."

"What about the game, though?" Ino asks. "Did you like it?"

Again, I shrug. "I don't really know what happened."

"Neither do I," she admits. "I've sat through countless games and I'm still lost."

"I've explained the game to you hundreds of times," Tenten said with a frown. "How do you still not get it?"

"It's hard to listen to what you're saying when you talk about things that you like," Ino replies. "You get excited and I'm too busy watching the way you wave your hands or your eyes get all bright; it's cute."

Tenten glares at her, and I laugh. "If you think I'm going to forgive you for ignoring me," she says, "just because you called me cute, you're sadly mistaken."

"I need to get back to my room," I say before this can turn into an actual argument. Or before they can do that annoying thing they do where they tease each other and act like there's no one else in the world but the two of them. "I've got work to do."

"Okay," Tenten says, but she's got her eyes on Ino. "I think we're going to go get something to eat. If we get pizza I'll drop a slice off for you later."

"Thanks," I say. "See you."

Tenten and Ino barely bother waving me off. They head in the opposite direction, while I head for my dorm. Just like there always is, people are loud in the halls, celebrating and partying (even though alcohol is banned from the dorms, technically, but that doesn't ever seem to stop anyone). I don't let it get to me as I walk down the hall, head ducked. As soon as I get to my room, I find my iPod and headphones, and I crank the volume up so all I can hear is my music before I get back to work.

I figure it's well into the night when Sasuke comes home, since he never gets back early on game days, and it feels like I've been working for days on this stupid reading. When I look at the alarm clock, it's only a little after ten, though. Which is really weird, but I don't have the time to wonder why the fuck Sasuke's here. I don't have the time to even acknowledge Sasuke's presence; so I don't.

Until he pulls out my headphones while falling onto my bed. I jumped, startled, and glared down at him. "What do you want? Why are you even here?"

Sasuke yawns. "Tired," he explains. "Need to sleep. Can't party tonight."

"So sleep," I hissed. I am going to put my headphones back in, but Sasuke reaches for them again. I groan, more to myself than at him. "I really don't have time for your shit right now, okay? I'm swamped."

Sasuke props himself up on his elbow. "With what?" he asks.

"This group project shit," I responded. "They piled on the work for me because, I don't know, they all hate me or something. I don't have time to blink right now, let alone talk with you. So if you're going to sleep, do it. But if you're going to stay awake and bug me, I swear I'll kill you."

"Okay, fine." Sasuke collapses against the bed like he's actually going to leave me alone. But then he asks, "Did you have fun at the game?"

"What? I—I don't know. I guess." I shake my head. "Leave me alone."

Just before I get my headphones back in, I hear a soft, whispered, "I'm happy that you came."

I don't have time to think about it, though. Don't have time to dwell on what that means, why he would say it. I get back to work and forget all about Sasuke Uchiha.

Disclaimer: Naruto and the Roommates are the property of their respective owners. I am in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of the material. I don't own anything. I didn't write this story and only put Naruto characters in place of the original characters. I didn't write this story and only replaced various things. The original is by Ashley Love.


	14. 13

Disclaimer: Naruto and the Roommates are the property of their respective owners. I am is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of the material. I don't own anything. I didn't write this story only put Naruto characters in place of the original characters. I didn't write this story only replaced various things. The original is by Ashley Love.

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Chapter 13

Sakura POV

On Sunday I don't wake up to my alarm. On Sunday I wake to someone gently shaking my shoulders, while my face is pressed against the inside of a book, bending one of the pages. It takes me a long, disoriented moment to realize who I am, where I am, and who's touching me

"Sakura," Sasuke says softly. "Your alarm went off half an hour ago. I don't think you meant to fall asleep."

I blearily look up at him, and then I sneeze. It's the sneeze that wakes me up. I only just have time to cover my face before it happens, and it seems to rattle my entire brain, which feels like it weighs ten times the amount it had yesterday. Yesterday, when I'd fallen asleep in the middle of my work. I remember shutting my eyes at four for just a second and—

"No," I moan. "No, no..." My eyes cut to the alarm clock, reading the blinking 9:13. "I'm late. I'm fucking late. I need to..." I jump up, pushing Sasuke out of the way as I gather my things. "Fuck, how did I fall asleep?"

"You look exhausted," Sasuke says gently. He puts a hand on my shoulder, stilling me. "I think you should go back to bed."

"Go back to bed," I repeat. "Yeah, sure, that's exactly what I'm going to do." I roll my eyes and flit across the room, grabbing my bag. I stuff everything inside it. "I don't have a choice. I know that you don't give a fuck about this shit, but some of us can't just coast by because we're good at throwing a ball or something. Some of us actually have to work, Sasuke, okay? I know it must be fucking awesome in your world where you can just sleep in all day and not do anything, but I can't—"

Sasuke gets back into his bed, pulls the blankets over himself, and turns his back to me without a word.

I hurry to pull a hat on over my horrible-looking hair, and then I'm running out the door, not sparring a single look back at him. When I get to the library I'm breathless and sweating, even if it's freezing outside. I only have time to lift my hand in a short wave for Shizune before I'm hurrying through the room, heading for the tables at the back.

The whole group is there already, bent over books and papers and the works. I skid to a halt, bag slipping off my shoulder, and they all look up at me before the first one cracks, letting out a smothered laugh. And then they're all laughing, looking at me like I'm crazy.

"Christ," one of them says. "Did you really try to do all that work last night?"

"We were joking, Sakura!" another one says. "No one actually expected you to do all that."

"We thought you'd realize," Karin adds, the only one who looks a little guilty. "Didn't think you'd actually attempt it."

I blink at them. "W-what?"

"We have until next week," Karin explains. "You realize that, right? Yesterday we were all just exchanging numbers, really. Talking about the outline of what we were going to do. No one's started anything yet. Today's meeting was going to focus on distributing the research work, and then Tuesday we're all going to meet up and pile it together."

I just... "What? But I-I was up until four because—"

"Shit, she really did! She actually tried to do it."

Slowly, I collapse in a seat. The other three continue laughing at my expense, but Karin pats my shoulder and give me a wide-eyed, apologetic look. "It was just a joke," she says. "Sorry if we took it too far."

But they don't seem all that sorry, really. I'm just too fucking exhausted to get upset over it. So instead I sink lower in my chair and try to pay attention to everything they say. And as soon as I can, I leave, not saying a goodbye to any of them.

It isn't until I'm back in my room, shutting the door behind myself that I crack. I make it to the bed, dropping my bag in the middle of the room as I go, and then collapse onto it. I bury my head in my hands and try to steady the burning in my eyes, the lump in my throat. Fuck, I feel like an idiot. Or maybe I'm just so overtired that I'm getting emotional. That happens, sometimes, but it doesn't really matter why it's happening. What matters is that it is happening. I'm crying.

"Sakura."

"Not right now, Sasuke," I plead. "Just...make fun of me later, okay?"

My bed dips, and the next thing I know, gentle hands are rubbing circles against my back. "What happened?"

I have no idea why I do it, but I find myself uncovering my face and answering the question. "They just...they made me feel like an idiot."

Sasuke's expression smooths out into an indifferent one. "Not fun when that happens, huh?"

Now my eyes are wet and red, my voice is thick with repressed tears, and guilt churns my stomach. "Sasuke, I'm—"

"Don't apologize when you don't mean it," he says roughly. He gets off the bed, and I shiver, wishing those hands were still rubbing my back. "I have to—I need to go."

"Go where?"

"Anywhere but here," he says, barely audible, before he leaves the room.

I stare at the closed door, trying to sort out how I feel. But I can't, and I'm too tired, so I pull my blankets in around me and pray for sleep to come before I can dwell on everything that's happened today.


	15. 14

Disclaimer: Naruto and the Roommates are the property of their respective owners. I am in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of the material. I don't own anything. I didn't write this story and only put Naruto characters in place of the original characters. I didn't write this story and only replaced various things. The original is by Ashley Love.

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Chapter 14

Sakura POV

The weeks leading up to the holidays are sort of stressful for everyone, even Sasuke, apparently. Tenten has even taken to spending as much time in the library as me, and we're not the only ones. It's more packed during the weeks leading up to exams and the holidays than it has been all year. Twice, even Ino slumps into a chair at our table, and on one single occasion, so does Sasuke.

Me and Sasuke also fuck. A lot. It's like we've just silently agreed to his suggestion to hook up instead of fight, which isn't exactly a good idea. The bad thing (or maybe it's a good one, but I refuse to think of it that way just yet) about it is that we both know how to push each other's buttons so easily. We know how to rile each other up, how to get the other going. And it's like we do it on purpose now. It's like we irritate each other just so we can have an excuse to rip each other's clothes off. Once it's because I turn my pages too loudly as I read; another time it's because Sasuke left the door unlocked. They're not even valid excuses, at this point. We just rip into each other for the dumbest things, and it inevitably ends with both of us sweating and panting and naked.

Which isn't exactly helping with my stress, because I spend more time naked with Sasuke than I can really afford to.

The only time that any of us seem to relax our shoulders, in fact, is in the art class. We move on from drawing to sculpting, and it's fun. It's ridiculous, too. I leave every day with clay caked under my fingernails, and even having Sasuke there doesn't bring me down. Not when he's the most helpless artist I've ever met.

Drawing definitely wasn't his thing, but neither is sculpting. It's almost comical how bad he is. Only I pity him, a little. And I find myself offering to help with the sculpting, though I don't know why. Sasuke shows me what he's trying to do, and I try to show him what he does wrong.

Except I'm kind of helpless with the sculpting too, admittedly.

"That looks worse than it did when I started," Sasuke teased one of the times I tried to help. "What is that?"

"You said it was supposed to be a squirrel," I had argued. "It looks like a squirrel!"

"It looks like a penis," Ino had snickered. "And I would know since I'm actually trying to sculpt a penis."

"Mine looks like a penis, too," Tenten added. "But that's because it's supposed to be a banana."

"You've ruined my whole sculpture, Sakura," Sasuke jokes. He'd pinched my side too, and I had squealed like a little girl before swatting his hand away.

"Look at them flirting," Ino had cooed. "Aw."

After that, I stopped offering my help. And we eventually moved on from sculpting to painting. Unsurprisingly, Sasuke is just as terrible at painting as he was at everything else. I, on the other hand, am great at painting. Well, not great. But I'm better at it than everyone else sitting with me. Tenten's bout of artistic talent is apparently limited to drawing; Ino had given up attempting to do good at any of this in the second week; Sasuke gets more paint on himself and the table than he does on his canvas, and what he does get on his canvas is just a mess. It sort of looks like a child did it, actually.

Before I know it, the art classes are coming to an end. In the last official class, the instructor stands at the front of the room and thanked us all for attending, and then explains what will happen next.

"You have until Tuesday to complete a single showcase piece. You're free to use any of the mediums we've used in this class. On Tuesday morning we'll all meet here, each of you with your completed piece, and we'll set up a small gallery for everyone attending the Christmas party, which you all are invited to. Later in the evening, well give guests a chance to bid on your pieces. You're allowed to bid, as well, for any work that doesn't belong to you. Afterwards, the person whose piece brought in the most money will get a small prize. Any questions?"

Ino raises her hand, and the instructor nods for her to go on. "What kind of prize are we talking about here? Like money, or is it a five-dollar gift certificate for the school cafeteria?"

"That's a good question, Ino." She smiles brightly at all of us. "The prize will be two coupons for a free movie, popcorn, drinks and candy at the local movie theatre, as well as a gift basket of goodies. Any other questions?"

A few people raise their hands, but I tune them out, too busy looking out the window. Snow falls in fat, wet flakes outside, and I smile. I might hate the cold, and the winter, but I can't deny that it's pretty snow. As long as I'm looking at it from the warmth of the indoors.

"Have you decided what you want to do?" Sasuke whispers to me.

I blink, pulling my gaze from the window. "Painting," I answered automatically. "I think."

"Painting of what?" he pushes.

I think about it. I've had a vague idea for weeks, but I'm not fully sure why. It's not even a good idea. It's so dumb, but I can't get it out of my head.

"Our room, I think," I respond because I know that I won't be able to do anything else. Not with the way it's been nagging at me since I first thought of it.

"Our room," Sasuke repeats. "Huh."

"What about you?"

He shrugs. "No idea," he says. "I'm sort of terrible at it all, you know? Either way, it's going to be bad."

"You're not—"

Sasuke gives me a pointed look, and I cut myself off.

"Okay, you're horrible."

Sasuke doesn't even look offended. He just shrugs and brushes it off, probably because we both know it's true, and there's no point arguing with that.

Disclaimer: Naruto and the Roommates are the property of their respective owners. I am in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of the material. I don't own anything. I didn't write this story and only put Naruto characters in place of the original characters. I didn't write this story and only replaced various things. The original is by Ashley Love.


	16. 15

Disclaimer: Naruto and the Roommates are the property of their respective owners. I am in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of the material. I don't own anything. I didn't write this story and only put Naruto characters in place of the original characters. I didn't write this story only replaced various things. The original is by Ashley Love.

Chapter 15

Sakura POV

On the Monday before the Christmas party, I come into our room to find it completely trashed. It's not like it had been that time the guys from the other team broke in and left silly string and shaving cream everywhere, though. It's a more controlled mess.

There's a lumpy clay thing on Sasuke's dresser. There are balls of bunched-up paper thrown around the room. And there's a newspaper covering every inch of the floor between the ends of our beds and the door. Newspaper that's topped with about ten different bottles of paint, three different paintbrushes, a single large canvas, and a defeated-looking Sasuke.

"What are you doing?" I ask. "What did you do to our room?"

Sasuke looks up at me with wide brown eyes. "I can't do anything," he says. "I have to have this done by tomorrow and it's going to look like a five-year-old made it."

I shut the door, trying not to look as surprised as I feel. "You're still working on your piece for the show tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow," Sasuke grunts. "God, I'm fucked."

"Um." I pick my way through the room, past his mess. I drop my bag on my bed and sit on the edge of it. "What are you trying to do, exactly?"

. He pushes a hand through his hair and gestures at his dresser. "I tried sculpting again, but that was...that's just not happening. So I tried drawing, but it's almost as bad. So now I'm on my last chance: painting. Only I was just as bad at painting as I was at everything else if you remember."

"Vividly," I admit.

Sasuke glares at me. "So now what am I supposed to do? I've got to get this done so it can dry, and I only have one chance. If I screw it up, I don't have another canvas."

I chew the inside of my lip. My own piece for the show is in the art room, where I'd left it. It's been done for two days now, and I'm proud of it. Proud of the contrast I'd captured between mine and Sasuke's sides of the room. The difference between Sasuke's wall, with the poster of Mei Terumi and shelf with the sports trophy and the football sitting on it. With his messy clothes hanging off the edge of his unmade bed, and his bright red comforter. Contrasting with my plain black comforter and my immaculately made bed. With my shelf of books and comics, and the lack of clothes left around.

And then, the focus of the painting, the desk. With my work on it, but one of Sasuke's shirts hanging off the back of the chair, which is pulled out and not neatly tucked in. I like it, the way the desk is the only shared item in the whole room and the way we both had our own ways of staking claim to it.

I hadn't struggled much with it, but Sasuke's clearly struggling with his own.

"What are you trying to paint?" I ask him.

He shrugs. "I don't know. Does it even matter? Remember when I tried to paint that bowl of fruit? It looked like I'd done it with my fingers."

It had. It was a bunch of lopsided, colourful blobs, all sitting inside of one big, colourful blob. It was the worst of the class, hands down, and I laughed at it until Sasuke flushed red, and then I'd stopped because I felt like an asshole. It hadn't looked at all like the bowl of fruit that he had used as inspiration, though. And he has a point; it had sort of looked like a child made it.

"Maybe that's your problem," I said slowly. "Maybe it's because you're trying too hard to replicate something."

Sasuke makes a face. "So what do you suggest I do, then? Just wing it?"

"No." I shake my head and slide off the bed to sit beside him on the newspaper. "I just...it doesn't have to look like something, you know? You keep trying to draw or paint or make a specific thing, but art doesn't always work that way. Sometimes you just have to feel, you know? Just do it and not worry about the end product, and it might turn out a million times better if you do."

Sasuke looks lost. "I have no idea what you just said."

I roll my eyes and reach for a paintbrush and red paint. I dump a bit of red paint onto the newspaper beside me, dip the brush in it, and hand it over to Sasuke. "Just paint with it, don't think about it."

"You want me to just paint," he clarifies. "With nothing in mind. No guidelines."

I nod. "Make a mess of it. Who cares. Just paint however you want. Use whatever colours you want. Use your hands, if you want. If you're trying to make it look like a mess, no one can judge you when it does because that's the point."

I have a feeling that the more I talk, the more confused he gets. But I watch as he hesitantly brings the red-tipped paintbrush to the canvas, and then he brushes a long, diagonal red stripe over it. When he's done, he looks back up at me. "Now what?"

"Can I help?" I ask. He nods, so I uncap the blue and green and yellow too, pouring a bit of each colour onto the newspaper so we can use them, and then I grab my own brush. "Just paint, Sasuke."

He paints, and I help. I stick to the darker colours, like the navy blue and burgundy and the rusted orange. Sasuke sticks to the bright yellows and the grassy greens. I slide my brush carelessly over the canvas, colours swirling with his. He uses careful, hesitant strokes. Until I grab his paintbrush by the bristles and flick them back, splattering bright red all over the painting.

"You just—"

"Yep," I say happily. "I told you, it doesn't matter. Just do whatever you think is going to look nice, and if it doesn't, well, who cares?"

Sasuke looks slightly happy with this. He dips his brush in the yellow and sprays it everywhere, and then he uses a clean brush to swirl together different parts of the painting until the colours mix and mingle. When there's no more white left on the canvas, I drop my brush and grinned down at it.

"Huh," Sasuke says.

"Huh," I say too.

It's kind of... interesting. It's not exactly nice, but it's not exactly bad. It's a mess, though. But maybe in a kind of abstract way that someone will find really interesting. Those people will interpret as meaningful and deep because that's what people do with art, even if the artist never meant for it to be interpreted that way. The changing of colours works, though. And so does the way that we'd both taken such different approaches to it because it's like half of the painting is fighting with the other half, one side all bright and happy, the other side darker.

"I like it," I decide.

"So do I," Sasuke admits. He carefully picks up the painting, leaning it against his dresser so it can dry. And then he falls back onto the newspaper next to me, scoops up a bit of green paint, and wipes it along my jaw.

I gasp, hand coming up to touch the side of my face. The paint is cold, and my fingertips come back green. Which means that actually happened. Sasuke just wiped paint on me.

"What the fuck was that for?"

Sasuke chuckles and leans back so he's resting on his hands. "You should see your face," he gets out through the giggles. "You look so...and the green—"

I dip my entire hand in the red paint, and then I wipe it across his shirt. "You should see your face," I mock.

He gapes at me. "I didn't get it on your clothes!" he says heatedly. "This isn't going to come out!"

"You started it," I remind him. "Don't start something you can't finish next time, Sasuke."

That was probably the wrong thing to say. He sits up, hands sliding through the red and green and yellow paint until his entire palms are covered, and then he slaps his hands down on my thighs. When he lifts them, there are perfect, rainbow-coloured handprints in their wake, discolouring the thighs of my jeans.

"You're so dead," I warn, making a Sasuke for the nearest bottle of paint. Only Sasuke gets to it first, and he pops the lid before dumping the entire bottle on me. It slides down my shoulder, some gets in my hair, and my clothes are ruined. There's no way I'm getting this out. " Sasuke!"

"It's a good colour on you," he smirks. "I like the blue."

I tackled him back against the newspaper. He's stronger than me, though, and it's only a matter of seconds before I'm being turned over, my back smearing in the paint covering the newspaper. Sasuke balances on top of me, easily holding all his weight so he doesn't crush me, and he smirks. It's no longer a frown; it's not teasing, or spiteful. It's just a bright, incredibly happy smile.

I can feel that smile when he kisses me. It's gentle, soft, his lips ghosting over my own. His eyes are closed too, his lashes brushing my cheeks. And I go with it, tilting my head to the side, parting my lips. There's no heat, though. There's no anger or anything else burning through me. There's just a pleasant, simmering warmth that makes my toes curl when his tongue licks carefully into my mouth.

When he pulls back, his eyes dart between mine for a moment before he goes back in, a little bolder in the way he pushes his lips against mine, but never getting to that hurtful, almost violent stage that we always do. There's no hair pulling or scratching or shoving at each other. His hand comes up to cup my jaw, thumb sliding over the green paint that covers my skin.

I push my hips up against his, wanting him to move this along if that's where it's going. I whine lowly, too, in case he doesn't get the message, and he pulls back, but only for a second.

This time his lips move to my jaw, the side without the paint. His teeth graze over it, but it's still more of a gentle sting than the normal rough, sharp bites I get.

"God, you're so..." He trails off in favour of kissing my neck.

"Annoying?" I supply. "Or I think it's usually infuriating, the word you use."

"Mm." One of Sasuke's hands slipped under my shirt. "I think the word I was looking for is beautiful, actually."

I try to pull back, but there's nowhere for me to go. My head hits the newspaper-covered floor with a thunk, and the pain of it feels like being doused in ice water while you're asleep. It wakes me up, clears away the fog in my mind. Sasuke is still kissing away at my neck, making content little noises. When he comes back up to my lips, there's blue paint on his chin now from where he'd poured it all over my shoulders.

"What?" He asks. "You look—"

I shake my head. I can't think past the word 'beautiful' echoing over and over in my mind. Did Sasuke really say that? No, he couldn't have. That wouldn't make sense. That's not what this is about. It's not about us liking each other. It's not even about us being attracted to each other (which we have to be, I know, on some level, but still); it's always been about the fact that we piss each other off. Which is why there's always the hair tugging, biting, scratching. The gentle touches and soft brush of his lips are throwing me off. It makes me feel unbalanced.

He kisses me again, and I slide paint-covered hands up his back. I want the shirt off, want to decorate his skin in an array of colours, so I fist my hands in his shirt and tug until it's gone, and he's kissing me again. I stretch out my hand, searching for a bottle of paint. I dump the contents out onto the newspaper and dip my hand in it before bringing it to Sasuke's back.

"Could we...do you think that you could... I mean, maybe we could switch it up this time," he stutters out, cheeks as red as the paint that I'm smudging against his shoulders.

I frown, moving my eyes to my hands, drawing a tiny happy face on his skin just because I can. "What was that?"

He tucks his head into the crook of my neck, the one without paint there (for now, but I have a feeling that paint will coat both me and him by the time we're done with this).

"I want to go slow this time," he mumbled.

I shudder under him. I never thought Sasuke would ask for that, honestly. We've got a certain routine down. After the fighting, and the discarding of clothes, he lays me down on whatever surface he likes (his bed, my bed, the desk twice which makes doing my work hard because it's all I can think about when I'm sitting at it) and fucks me, and that's just how we do it.

"I've never, like..." I trail off, embarrassed. I don't want to admit to him that I've never technically 'made love' before, that I'm afraid of being bad at it. "You should just—"

"I want to," he says.

I close my eyes and breath, a little overwhelmed. I want to, too, though. God, I want to. Sometimes it's all I dream about, Sasuke making love to me. When I'm not dreaming about him fucking me, that is.

"I've got paint all over my hands," I say anyway.

"Go clean them," he urges, pulling back to give me a serious look with too many emotions. Way too many emotions. "But leave the rest of it. I like it."

"Okay," I say slowly. "You just...wait here, then."

Sasuke nods and rolls off me. I scramble to my feet, nearly running to the door. I almost trip, catch myself and pull the door shut behind me before I can check if Sasuke noticed or not.

My head is spinning the whole way to the bathroom. I rush to clean the swirls of paint off my hands, some of it dry but most of it still wet. When I'm done I take a look in the mirror. There's green on my face, blue on my neck, red and yellow and green on my clothes. I look like I rolled around in a bunch of paint which, to be fair, is exactly what happened.

It's better to think about the state of my clothes than what's about to happen in the room, though, because if I think about it I'll get nervous. I don't want to get nervous. That's the upside to sleeping with someone you hate. When it's with someone you like, you worry about it. You worry about whether or not it'll be good for them. Worry if they'll hate the way your thighs look naked, or if they'll wrinkle their nose at the less desirable parts of your body. If they'll hate the way you kiss or the way you touch them. You worry about not being good enough because all you want to do is please them. But sex with someone you can't stand is so much easier, because if they don't like something about you, who the fuck cares? You're not trying to please them. You're just trying to get off.

And that's what it's been with Sasuke, just the two of us needing an outlet, and using each other. Or that's what it's supposed to be, right? I can't handle it being anything else.

When I get back to the room, Sasuke is completely naked, still lying on the floor. Just like me, he's covered in different colours. It mingles with his pale, toned skin, and I take a soft breath as I shut the door, admiring him. I can't help it. I get to touch that, is the thing. I get to kiss him and run my fingertips over the planes of his stomach, over his delicious muscles. I get to scratch my nails into his back and bite at that ridiculously plump bottom lip of his. And I've never, until this point, realized how lucky I am.

"Hurry up," he whines. "Why are you just standing there?"

"Right, sorry." I scurry towards the desk, stepping over knocked over bottles of paint and Sasuke's body. I pull open the bottom drawer, grab his stash of condoms, and then I hesitate. What am I supposed to do here? Where do I start?

"Why am I the only one naked?" Sasuke wonders, arching an eyebrow.

That's as good a place as any, I think. I drop the condom onto one of the only places without paint, and then I strip off my jeans and my shirt, while Sasuke blinks up at me with his lip caught between his teeth. His eyes rake down my body when I slip off my underwear too, and then he leans forward, dragging paint-covered hands over my skin.

"I think I'd be a great artist," he says, hands slipping between my thighs but never going too high, "if I could always paint like this, instead of on a canvas."

"Are we going to fuck on the floor, then?" I ask, trying to sound less shaken by the way he's touching me than I am

It feels—intimate. This hasn't ever felt intimate before. Fuck, Sasuke's pounded into me on multiple occasions without it feeling intimate. So how is him just...touching me lightly so much more than that?

"Yeah," he says thickly. "On the floor."

I drop to my knees, and it's not exactly comfortable, being on the floor. But every time one of us shifts, paint gets everywhere and I like it, even if it's not practical.

He pulls me into another kiss, fitting easily between my now spread legs. The paint on my thighs spreads to him, getting caught in the hairs that cover his legs. We're a mess, the two of us, and I think it's more than just the paint. This whole thing is a mess, what we're doing.

"Come on," I urge, smacking at his back. "Hurry up."

He kisses me, just because, while feeling around blindly for the condom. He finds it, fumbling with the wrapper as he moves down my chest, kissing the whole way because...that's how I'd like it, right? Maybe I never get it like that, never gets someone's lips tasting every inch of my skin (not just with Sasuke, but with...no, I'm not thinking about that right now), but that's how I'd like it if I got to dictate how these things went every time.

There's a moment of hesitance when he slides his finger inside me, but I'm panting, looking up at him expectantly, and I push it away. Even if I know, deep down, that something's changing here, right now. Maybe not in this exact moment, but if we continue with this, something will break. That precarious balance we've had will tip towards one side, and I'm not sure what that means. Not sure what will happen. All I know is that something will happen.

He pushes one of his fingers into me anyway. I'm tight, clenching around the digit. Sasuke looks into my eyes like he's worried that he did something wrong, but then I let out a low moan and rock my hips down, and he takes that as a sign to keep going. It's a little fumbled, not as rushed and easy as it usually is. He's always been quiet in bed, even when I'm moaning and whimpering; right now, though, he's got his eyes drilled to mine and he's being so loud, moaning, encouraging me every step of the way.

He looks beautiful like this, Sasuke. Paint-covered, sweat-blanketed skin. Eyes focused on me, lips open in a silent moan. Stomach muscles clenched, fingers curling inside me. My thighs spread wide, trembling on either side of him every so often. Two of his fingers slowly pushing and pulling in and out of me; his length neglected, curving up towards his stomach, hard and almost painful looking.

He carefully curls his fingers, tries to find that spot inside of me. He knows when he does because my jaw goes slack and my whole body shakes.

"G-god," I moan. "Do that again."

He tries to, and when he succeeds I fall heavily back against the newspaper. I have to reach a hand down to relieve the pressure because I feel like I'm going to burst and he hasn't even gotten inside me yet.

I'm so pliant under him, too. I'm never like that. I'm bossy and bitchy, whining when he takes too long, complaining when he doesn't hurry up, trying to dictate how he fucks me because that's just how I am. This time though, I just take it when he slows down, scissoring his fingers, dragging them out slowly. I keen when he speeds up, stretching me with another finger, going with whatever he gives me and moaning shamelessly the whole time.

"Are you good?" he whispers.

If things were different, if this weren't about getting each other off as fast as possible so we can clean up, get dressed, pretend like it never happened (the way we always do), and if I wasn't so desperate to fuck Sasuke right this second, I think I'd like to see how long it'd take him to get me to cum like this. Or how long until he finally reverted back to his normal self and took over, pushing me onto my back and fucking the shit out of me.

"Get up here," I say instead of answering the question. He grabs the condom, first. There's difficulty with opening it, and he's so fucking nervous that he has trouble getting it on, too. But he manages, and then he crawls up my body, perfectly between my legs. He opens his mouth, but I talk before he can. "I know what you're about to say, and I'll let you know if you hurt me."

"Okay." He kisses my forehead before he pushes in, but then he freezes, eyes widening. That's not something we do, is it? We don't kiss each other like that. We kiss each other like we want to hurt one another. Like we want to leave bruises from our lips and draw blood with our teeth. Kissing me on the forehead is...gentle, off. It's not how we do this. "Sorry—"

"For what?" I ask.

Kissing you like this means something. But I know he can't say that, so instead he shakes his head. He lines himself up with my body, and my legs go around his waist. I pinch my face up when he pushes into me, but I never tell him to stop, so he keeps going, bottoming out in one smooth glide.

We lie there like that for a long moment, both of us trying to calm down. When he thinks he can move without ending this whole thing in a matter of about, oh, two seconds, and I no longer look like I'm going to cry, he slowly moves his hips back. He's so fucking big and I'm so fucking tight, clenching around him, my legs like a vice, too.

When he's confident he's not hurting me or screwing this up, he gets bolder. Moves a little faster, thrusts in a little harder. I tug at his hair, pull him down into a sloppy kiss. He angles his hips differently, and my free hand reaches for nothing as I let out this sound that puts the most beautiful instruments to shame.

My eyes go wide, too, but I'm looking beside us. Sasuke turns his head, sweaty hair falling over his forehead. We're closer to the dresser than I thought, and my hand had slid against the still drying painting. I can perfectly see where my fingers hit the painting and the trail of where they'd dragged over it before slipping off.

"Fuck," he moans.

"I don't care," I assure him, sounding almost frantic. "I don't care, just—"

He nods hastily, hands gripping my thighs. He blankets my body with his own, lips finding my neck as he fucks into me, no longer trying to find the right rhythm, probably no longer thinking about anything but how fucking good this feels and how good I sound underneath him.

I cum before I can pull up and get my hands around his back like I was planning on doing. It's so unexpected, the way I shudder and tighten almost painfully around him, that he cums only seconds later, trying to find something to hold onto. He can't, though, so instead he bites down on my shoulder the way he always does as his orgasm pulses through him.

He slowly pulls out of me, still worried about hurting me. When things are reversed, this is where he would get up and walk away from me, throw out the condom and get dressed. But this time he doesn't. Instead, he flops onto the ground next to me, his chest rising and falling rapidly.

We're both still catching our breath when his hand grabs my own. He twines our fingers together, squeezing lightly. It's too much.

I sit up fast, Sasuke's hand releasing mine instantly. The next ten minutes are so awkward. The two of us cleaning up our bodies, and then me getting dressed while he cleans up the newspapers. I can't stay to watch that, not when Sasuke's still mostly naked, save for his boxers.

"I need a shower," I say. Excuses, really. "There's paint everywhere. I'll, um, be back later."

Sasuke waves me off. "I'll still be cleaning when you get back, so..."

I nod and slip out the door. I can't meet anyone's eyes on the way to the bathroom, and I don't look at myself in the mirror this time. I just strip off my clothes and get under the hot water, letting it wash away the paint and sweat and Sasuke.

The issue, of course, isn't that I had sex with Sasuke. Even switching it up, making love, isn't the problem, because I think it shouldn't matter, really, how it's done. It's still sex that's supposed to not mean anything.

And that's the problem. It's not supposed to mean anything. There aren't supposed to be... feelings. But there are. There are. They threaten to strangle me, cutting off my airways. I lean against the tiles of the shower wall, trying to force them away, trying to think past them. I can't.

It's impossible to control your feelings. You can tell yourself you don't have them; you can pretend, put on a mask of indifference and tell the world that they're not there, but they are. It's impossible to escape them, no matter how desperately you wish to.

"Fuck," I groan. I tug at my hair, but that only makes him think of Sasuke doing it. Which only makes me think of Sasuke's lips gently pressed against my own. Of Sasuke calling me beautiful. Of Sasuke, Sasuke, Sasuke. I can't get the guy out of my head, but that's nothing new. Sasuke's always been like that, always forced himself into my thoughts, only those thoughts are supposed to be laced with hatred.

So why aren't they anymore?

Disclaimer: Naruto and the Roommates are the property of their respective owners. I am is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of the material. I don't own anything. I didn't write this story only put Naruto characters in place of the original characters. I didn't write this story only replaced various things. The original is by Ashley Love.


	17. 16

Disclaimer: Naruto and the Roommates are the property of their respective owners. I am in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of the material. I don't own anything. I didn't write this story and only put Naruto characters in place of the original characters. I didn't write this story and only replaced various things. The original is by Ashley Love.

Chapter 16

Sakura POV

I leave for home a little earlier than I'd planned. Technically all my exams are done, but I was planning on leaving Friday since that was the day Tenten and Ino were both heading home. But when I wake up Tuesday morning, not exactly early but not late (since we don't have to be in the art room for another few hours), to find paint still caked under my nails, I can't breathe.

And when Sasuke gets up a little later, after I've showered and dressed for the day, and he says, "Hey, do you think I could talk to you tonight? After the auction?" I feel like I'm being suffocated. Like Sasuke 's wrapped those hands of his, with the long, thick fingers, tightly around my throat.

"Talk about what?" I ask, careful to keep my tone neutral.

Sasuke shrugs. "Just something. I'll get your number off Naruto and text you."

I go to protest, but there's really no reason to, is there? Not one, aside from the heavyweight on my chest. "Okay."

Sasuke nods and I grab my iPod and turn it up so I can pretend to ignore him until we have to be in the art room to set up our stuff. But I've never been very good at ignoring Sasuke, and now is no exception. Especially when he gets out of bed, completely naked. There's still a bit of paint on certain parts of his skin, little swatches, reminders of what happened. He heads for his dresser, and I bite my lip, pointedly not looking at his ass except—okay, I do. Fuck.

Slowly, Sasuke pulls on his boxers. He does it deliberately, tugging them up to his legs with a little twist of those hips. My eyes narrow, my head cocked to the side, and he reaches for a pair of jeans, does the same thing, buttoning them painstakingly slow. He forgoes the shirt, heading back for his bed once he's done. He falls onto it, grabbing his phone from on top of the desk, and then he lies there like that, propped up on his side, looking fucking ridiculous.

Ridiculously attractive, but I don't want to think about that. So I get out of bed, leaving my headphones on, and leave the room.

Tenten and Ino are still asleep when I get to their room. Ino answers the door in one of Tenten's shirts (I think, but the two of them share so often it's nearly impossible to tell) and a pair of boy shorts, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.

"What?" she sighs. "What do you want? It's too early for me to like you right now. Come back later."

I push into the room anyway. Tenten is half-awake in bed, rubbing at her eyes as Ino had. Only she tries to smile weakly at me, which Tenten hadn't bothered, and she also doesn't kick me out. So I crawl into bed beside her, getting right under the blankets and everything.

Tenten's bed smells like her; like that perfume, she wears it every day, but also distinctly like cinnamon rolls (weird, but delicious). I tuck my head against her chest and breathe it in while she rubs at my back, not even asking what I'm doing, which is why I had come here for her, not Ino. Ino would ask; Tenten just comforts automatically and lets me work it out on my own.

"I shouldn't have slept with my roommate," I groan against her.

"You definitely shouldn't have," she agrees.

"I think I like him." I pull back, looking up at Tenten with pleading eyes, begging her to tell me that's not true; I can't like Sasuke. Nope. Impossible. Incomprehensible.

But she only nods sympathetically. "We know."

"How did this happen?" I wonder. "How did I let this happen?"

"I don't think you had much said in it," Ino says from the other bed. "He's kind of great, when you get to know him, Sakura. And he's fucking gorgeous. Like, straight out of GQ material."

"You're not helping," I grumble. "And I hate him, remember? I hate him. I'm afraid to not hate him. What happens if I don't hate him? Then what?"

"You're already fucking," Ino points out. "You're halfway there."

"Halfway to what?"

"A relationship."

I get out of Tenten's bed and stumble towards the door. A relationship with Sasuke. God, I can't even think about that. Not even if—no. I can't. It can't happen. It can't work. And my feelings possibly changing doesn't mean that Sasuke 's have. Why would he? What do I have to offer him except sex, really?

Nothing.

"Don't leave," Tenten calls after me. "Sakura—!"

I shut the door and almost go back to my room, but instead I head down the hall, opting to go outside and smoke a cigarette until we have to go to the art room. And while I'm at it, I call Tayuya and ask her to come pick me up earlier. She's not supposed to pick me up until Friday, but I need to go home now.

"I can be there at about nine," she says. "That okay?"

I wince. That means I still have to go to the Christmas party, but I can duck out early, at least. "Yeah, that's fine. Thanks."

"You okay?" She sounds a little hesitant like she's worried I might get angry with her for asking.

We've always had a tough-love relationship, me and Tayuya. With my other sisters, I'm extremely protective of them. I love them more than life itself. But with her, I've always been the dorky little sibling, and she's always been the bitch of an older sister that had annoying friends and never let me watch what TV shows I wanted. But I still love her, and her me. We just don't really worry about each other the same way we do our other sisters.

"I'm fine," I say. "I just want to get home."

"Okay." She doesn't push it, and I knew she wouldn't. "But don't take, like, forever to pack your shit, okay? I'm not turning back six times because you forgot to bring a book that you needed to study or some shit like that."

I grin. "I won't."

"Okay, good. Later."

I feel slightly better after that conversation, but there's still this gnawing inside of me. These emotions that nag at me, demanding to be felt. I don't want to feel them, or anything. I want to go back to when me and Sasuke just hated each other. Before the sex, because sex eventually leads to feelings, doesn't it? This always happens in these kinds of situations. One person starts to get the wrong idea, starts to feel more than they should, and it all comes crashing down.

But then I remember the way Sasuke's lips and hands feel on my body, and I can't find it in myself to truly regret any of it


	18. 17

Disclaimer: Naruto and the Roommates are the property of their respective owners. I am in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of the material. I don't own anything. I didn't write this story and only put Naruto characters in place of the original characters. I didn't write this story and only replaced various things. The original is by Ashley Love.

I'm a little late to the art room, but I'd planned it that way. Everyone else is inside, and they're already setting up. Mrs. Yuhi ("Call me Kurenai, please," she'd said to us at the beginning of the class) comes over to me as soon as I step through the door.

"You should really think about taking my class next year, Sakura," she says to me. "You're very talented if a little rough around the edges."

"Thanks," I mumble, eyes on Sasuke already. He's on the other side of the room, trying to put his painting on one of the display tables.

"I especially love the contrast," she continues, unaware of my discomfort. "How personal you made it. The minuscule details of the lives of both you and your roommate."

"Thanks," I say again.

"It's very similar to Sasuke's work, actually," she adds.

I frown. "It is?" I ask because the two look nothing alike. Not at all.

But she nods, serious. "The contrasting sides that meet in the middle. Of course, his is abstract and yours is a little more literal, but still. It's very interesting to see the way the two of you work together."

"Um." I run a hand through my hair. I don't want to talk about this. "Should I go, like, set up my painting now?"

"Yes, of course!" she says quickly. "Beside Sasuke's, I think they'd look nice beside each other. But really consider what I said about taking my class, Sakura. I'd love to have you."

"I will," I promise if only to get out of there.

I get my painting from the back of the room, where I'd left it to dry days ago. It looks just as I remember, as an exact replica of our room from a few weeks ago, with my signature scribbled in the bottom right corner in white paint. I carefully carry it over to the display table where Sasuke's still standing, peering down at his own work.

We fucked up Sasuke's painting last night with our antics, but...it looks better, in my opinion. Even if it brings heat to my cheeks, remembering exactly how that handprint-shaped smudge got there. I place mine down beside it, and I really don't see how they look similar, but whatever. I'm not the art teacher, so...

"Yours looks brilliant," Sasuke says, peering down at my painting. "Really great. Mine looks like—"

"Thanks," I say for the third time in, like, five minutes, just before I walk away, heading for Ino and Tenten.

Tenten's final piece is a drawing of Ino. It's more cartoonish than anything, but I like it a lot.

"Nice," I say. "It's really good, Ten."

"Look who it's of," Ino scoffs. "Of course it's good. I and my perfectly chiselled jaw take full credit for this masterpiece."

"Where's your piece?" I ask her.

Ino grins. "I thought you'd never ask." She grabs my arm and drags me off to a table littered with sculptures. "Guess which is mine. I call it—A Midnight Escape."

"It's a sculpture of an ass," I deadpan. "In a thong."

"God, I'm so talented," Ino mutters.

I snort and roll my eyes. "You're insane," I correct. "But, uh, before you drag everyone over here to appreciate...that, I just wanted to let you know that I'm leaving tonight."

Ino gapes at me. "I thought you weren't leaving until Friday!"

"Change of plans." I shrug. "My sister's busy that day, so she asked if it was okay if she came to get me tonight." I don't mean to lie, it's just easier than admitting that I'm really running away because I can't handle being in my own head right now, and I hope that'll be easier when I get home.

Ino hugs me tightly. "I'll miss you," she says. "I can't believe you're bailing early. But you call me on my birthday, promise?"

"Promise."

"Now go tell Tenten. The girl's ridiculously attached to you, she's not going to take it well. I'm not doing it for you."

Ino wasn't kidding. Tenten looks like a wounded puppy, all sad eyes and "Why can't you stay until Friday as we planned? We were going to watch Christmas movies in the common room, and I was going to make us a special microwave dinner."

"We can do that when we get back," I offer. "Even if Christmas has passed."

Tenten frowns for a moment, and then a wide grin spreads over her face. "Yeah, alright. Sounds like a plan. Gonna miss you, though."

"I'm gonna miss you guys, too," I say honestly.

"Have you told Sasuke?" she asks, and I take that back immediately. Maybe I won't miss Tenten, not if she asks questions like that.

"No," I say flatly. "Why would I?"

reasonable question until you got that mass murderer look on your face."

"Sasuke's not my friend," I remind her. "He won't care when I leave, and it's none of his business either way."

"Okay," she says, lifting her hands defensively. "I'll have to remember not to ask you about Sasuke anymore. Apparently, it's a touchy subject now."

"It's always been a touchy subject," Ino reminds her. "Only now instead of bitching about the guy, she gets all panicked, like a caged animal."

I glare at them both, but I don't protest when Tenten's arm goes around my waist. I don't protest when Ino goes around my shoulders. I don't protest when the two of them guide me from the room, laughing and making promises to buy me lunch to make up for it. I do look over my shoulder though, just once, to find Sasuke staring after us, a lost look on his face.


	19. 18

Disclaimer: Naruto and the Roommates are the property of their respective owners. I am in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of the material. I don't own anything. I didn't write this story and only put Naruto characters in place of the original characters. I didn't write this story and only replaced various things. The original is by Ashley Love.

Sakura POV

The entire art room is different for the Christmas party. After we'd left, someone had come in and strung up lights all around the room. They cast it in a soft glow, while another set lines each of the display tables to illuminate the showcased pieces. There's also row after row of plastic chairs set up for the auction, just in the middle of the room, enough space between us and the tables to give everyone room to walk around and see what we've created.

I'm exhausted. After lunch, Ino and Tenten had dragged me back to the dorms to get dressed. I had been forcefully put into one of Ino's white button-ups and a pair of my own dress pants, and they'd left me to do my hair with promises to do painful things if I left it messy and down like I always do.

And I'm a little nervous. As people stream into the room, dressed in red and white and black and green, everyone color-coordinated with the holidays, my stomach starts to do flips. People move around the room, regarding all the pieces. I watch people stop and look down at my own, but I can't keep doing that because I'm trying to figure out what their faces mean, if they like it or hate it, and it's making me anxious. So I make a beeline for the door, heading for the refreshments room just across the hall.

Of course Sasuke is inside. He's in a full suit. His hair is styled, he's cleanly shaven, and he looks years younger. And good. He looks good.

"Chocolate-covered strawberries," he says, holding one between his fingers. "Want one?"

"Sure," I say. I reach for the plate of them, but Sasuke's holding the one in his fingers up to my mouth. Suddenly they don't seem as appetizing as they had literally seconds ago. But I bite it anyway, cracking through the chocolate shell to get to the juicy berry underneath. "It's good."

Sasuke's gaze darkens, eyes falling to my lips. "Yeah." He shakes his head quickly, like he's clearing his mind. "Is everyone in there, then? Have they done the auction yet?"

"I think they will in a few minutes," I admit. "That's why I'm in here."

Sasuke nods. "Nervous, too?"

"A bit."

"Come on," he says, nodding towards the door. "Let's just go. Get it over with. Plus, you're going to get the highest bid, you know."

"I'm not," I say flatly. "Other people did way better than I did."

"Just take the damn compliment," he teases. "But if you don't want to go, I'll let you know how it went."

I shake my head. "No, I'm coming." I snag one more chocolate covered-strawberry and follow Sasuke to the other room. Ino and Tenten are inside now, sitting at the very back, talking to each other. I go towards them, sinking into a free seat. Sasuke sits beside me instantly. "When are they starting?"

"Five more minutes," Tenten answers.

I nod and swallow.

Five minutes pass awfully fast. Everyone settles into their seats, and Mrs. Yuhi goes to the front of the room. And then it begins.

The first piece sells for fifty dollars. The second for thirty. The third for one hundred and thirty. Tenten's drawing of Ino goes for sixty bucks, to Ino. Ino's ass sculpture goes for a whopping one hundred and twenty.

When my painting comes up, Mrs. Yuhi actually bids on it. I didn't even know she was allowed to. And she wins too, the painting going for one hundred and forty-five dollars. The highest so far. Pride swells inside of me, and Sasuke and Ino both elbow me excitedly.

Sasuke's painting comes up, and he nervously shifts in his seat. So many people bid on it, and the number just keeps rising and rising and rising, until a balding man buys it for a total of two hundred and twenty dollars.

Annoyance goes through me. Not at Sasuke's painting outbidding my own (and everyone else's), but at the fact that some man is going to take it home. Someone who has no idea how that smudged handprint got there. Someone who has no idea how it was made, what it represents. I want it. I want to outbid him, want to take it home and keep it for myself. But I don't have enough money, and Mrs. Yuhi says "Sold!" and the painting is gone.

"Did that just happen?" Sasuke asks afterwards, after all of the pieces have been sold. "Did—did someone really pay two hundred fucking dollars for my painting?"

"Seems that Sasuke's been holding out on us," Ino says. "And here I was under the impression that you were worse at art than a first grader."

I try to think of something to say, something to compliment Sasuke, but my phone buzzes in my pocket. I pull it out, read over the text from Claire, and nearly split my face with a grin because finally.

"I have to go," I say, already out of my seat.

"Where?" Sasuke calls after me, but I'm already at the door.

I'd hugged Tenten and Ino goodbye

earlier, warned them that I'd have to duck out early, so it's not like I need to linger behind. I head straight for my room, not looking back once. When I get there, I quickly pack up everything I need at home, mostly just a few integral pieces of my wardrobe and a book or two, and then I leave, shutting off the light and locking the door behind me.


	20. 19

Disclaimer: Naruto and the Roommates are the property of their respective owners. I am in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of the material. I don't own anything. I didn't write this story and only put Naruto characters in place of the original characters. I didn't write this story and only replaced various things. The original is by Ashley Love.

Sasuke POV

Everyone files slowly out of the room after the auction. Sasuke gets up, too, following behind Tenten and Ino, both bent together, whispering excitedly. Sasuke still isn't sure if they're lesbos. He thought they were, but the more time he spends with them, the less sure he is. He's never seen them kiss, or hold hands, but they act like they're lesbos.

"Sasuke."

He turns, eyebrows raised, to find Mrs. Yuhi looked at him expectantly, and then he remembered. "Oh, right." He quickly heads over to her, and she hands him the leftover money from the three hundred dollars he'd given her to bid on Sakura's piece. "Thank you."

"I still don't fully understand why you couldn't bid yourself, but it wasn't a bother," she says with a wave of her hand. "You can take your painting whenever you'd like."

"Is it okay if I leave it here until Thursday?"

He doesn't want to bring it back to the room and have Sakura realize that he'd bought it. That'd defeat the whole purpose of having her bid for him. "I leave then, and this way I don't have to keep it in my room."

"Of course, dear."

"Thank you," Sasuke adds once more.

This time she only waves him off, moving on to talk to someone else. Sasuke pockets his money and leaves, heading for his room.

It's thankfully empty when he gets there. That's what he'd planned, so he's grateful, even if it puts him off every time he comes home and Sakura's bed is unoccupied, or she's not sitting at the desk. Not that she has to wait for him to come home like some obedient puppy, or his stay at home girlfriend or something, but whenever she is there when he gets back, it makes something warm bubble up inside of him.

He's a little nervous as he moves about the room, hanging up the Christmas lights he'd borrowed from the art room, ones that weren't needed for decoration. He also turns on the stereo, just a bit of soft music in the background, one of Sakura's CDs that he listens to a lot (and he knows she hates it when he touches her stuff, but he thinks it might be okay, just this once). When he plugs in the lights and shuts off the overhead one, the room is cast in soft, glowing light. It looks romantic, or something. Not that Sasuke's good at romance, but he's trying and that has to count for something, right?

When he's done he takes out his phone, flitting through to his last contact. He'd gotten Sakura's number off Naruto weeks ago, not that he's used it. Naruto still teases him about it, and Sasuke's stopped arguing with him over it because Naruto's teasing is justified.

Remember how I asked to talk? Can u come to the room? It's Sasuke btw he sends, hands shaking just a bit. He's not going to get too excited over this, though. That'd be lame. But he does busy himself with pulling Sakura's gift out of his dresser, holding it tightly in his hands.

It's not an expensive gift. It's just one of those lights that you stick on the top of your books so you can read in the dark. Sasuke figured it'd make his life easier, since he and Sakura constantly fight over her, keeping the light on to do work while he tries to sleep. And it didn't seem like an extravagant gift, either. Like something that he'd spent weeks picking out (even if he actually did).

Fifteen minutes pass without a reply or Sakura coming into the room, and Sasuke starts worrying his lip between his teeth. Twenty minutes, and he starts pacing the room.

Forty-five minutes later and he gets a short text that reads Sorry, I can't. My sister came to pick me up. I'm on my way home. Happy holidays.

Sasuke slowly blinks down at the screen. And then he gets up, tossing Sakura's present into the bottom drawer of the desk before he tears down the lights and crawls into bed, refusing to be upset about this. He should have known something like this would happen. He's always so stupid; Sakura knows it, and he knows it, too. Why would this be any different?


	21. 20

Disclaimer: Naruto and the Roommates are the property of their respective owners. I am in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of the material. I don't own anything. I didn't write this story and only put Naruto characters in place of the original characters. I didn't write this story and only replaced various things. The original is by Ashley Love.

Sakura POV

Being at home, for me, is like being able to breathe again. Even if the ride home hadn't been exactly pleasant. Four hours alone in a car with my sister and her shitty music and her texting so much that I confiscate her phone because that's illegal and dangerous and not ideal for anyone. But as soon as I'm home, my mother hugs me and it makes up for the rest of it.

I also get to sleep. No matter how comfortable I get in my dorm room, it's just not the same as being in my bed. Having an entire room to myself. No Sasuke snoring beside me. Blissfully, happily, wonderfully, completely alone. I can't imagine anything better.

That's what I tell myself, at least, but that first night, even though I don't get home until about one in the morning, I lie awake for what feels like hours, the silence in the room unbearable.

"How did your exams go?" my mother asks at breakfast.

I yawn and sip my coffee, infinitely better than the stuff they serve at the coffee shop on campus. "Better than I thought. Still stressed over them, but I think I did alright."

"Of course you did," she says, with the kind of proud, sincere conviction that only a mother can manage. "And how are your friends? The two you told me about."

"Crazy," I say, smiling into my coffee. "But good. Maybe they'll come to visit this summer."

"I'd love that." Probably because I've never really brought anyone home, ever. Except for Sasori, once or twice, but we always snuck in, and he never wanted to meet my family, no matter how many times I begged him. Which, looking back on it, isn't all that surprising.

Just as I always do, I refuse to allow that train of thought to go any farther. I cut off the tracks, hit the brakes on it, and forget that Sasori ever flitted across my mind.

"And what about your roommate?" my mother continues. "Are you two finally settling your differences?"

If settling our differences means fucking the hatred out of each other until I accidentally started to develop feelings for him, feelings that I still don't want to dwell on because they make me sick to my stomach, then yeah. We settled our differences, all right.

"Something like that," I mutter.

"I'm glad to hear it," my mom says. "And I'm glad you're home."

"Me too," I admit. "Really glad."

Me and my mom are always the first up, but it isn't long before my sisters are trampling down the stairs, rubbing sleep from their bleary eyes. My father is already at work, but he'll be back later in the day. And the four of us spend the morning and afternoon first eating breakfast, then doing a bit of grocery shopping (I offer to go, just to get out of the house and have something to do), and then Megan drags me away to show me some of her work from class.

The night is spent in the kitchen, helping my mom cook, and then at the table, having a big family dinner the way we always do. Afterwards, my dad invites me to watch sports, and I ask him to explain football to me (which he does, but I'm still mostly lost).

When I get to bed that night, I lie awake for hours, until eventually, I pull out one of my books. When I fall asleep, it's with the lights on and with the book open on my chest.


	22. 21

Disclaimer: Naruto and the Roommates are the property of their respective owners. I am in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of the material. I don't own anything. I didn't write this story and only put Naruto characters in place of the original characters. I didn't write this story and only replaced various things. The original is by Ashley Love.

Sakura POV

On Christmas Eve I call Ino, like I promised. Ino is a little drunk, though, and she spends the entire six-minute conversation giggling and telling me how much she loves me, and how glad she is that we're friends, and how she didn't think she'd ever become such good friends with someone from school but she's happy that she did. I spend the conversation mostly making noncommittal sounds and picking at my pinky nail.

I call Tenten too, for good measure, just to wish her a merry Christmas. Of course, Tenten's actually with Ino, which I hadn't realized, and she's just as off her ass, so I end that conversation early.

I flick through my contacts afterwards, deciding to send Naruto a short happy holidays to which I get a reply of you too! :D That makes me wonder if I'm the only one sober right now.

If I weren't sober, I'd have an excuse for what I do next. But I am, and it's with a clear mind that I open my text messages, find the one from Sasuke, and call him.

The ringing makes me jump, as if someone else had pressed 'talk' and I wasn't expecting it. By the second ring I start wishing it'll go to voicemail. By the third I'm panicking. By the fourth I'm ready to hang up, even if I figure Sasuke has caller I.D. and will know it was me.

"Hello?"

I wince, blinking up at my ceiling. My mouth feels dry, my tongue feels heavy, and it's with difficulty that I get out, "Hi."

I think, dazedly, that Sasuke's hung up on me. Seconds tick by without a word, but finally he says, "What do you want, Sakura?" and he sounds just as he always does when I'm annoying him. Short, sharp, angry. As ridiculous as it is, I was almost hoping he would be happy I called. But obviously that's far from the case.

"I'm not sure," I admit. "I just...I thought I'd call. Wish you a merry Christmas, or something."

Again, Sasuke takes forever to reply. "It's not Christmas until tomorrow."

"Right, yeah, I know. I just—"

"I really don't understand why you'd even call me," Sasuke barrels on, completely ignoring me. "We're not friends, Sakura. We never were, so I don't get what you're trying to do here."

I blink, hurt ringing through me. But it doesn't take much for me to push it down, channel anger instead.

"Of course we're not," I sneer. "Fuck you, Sasuke, I thought I'd call just to see if—" On the other side of the line, I hear something smash. Immediately I go from pissed off to concerned. "Are you okay?"

"Shit," he groans. I hear movement, his shaky breathing, the sound of loud footsteps hurrying down a set of stairs. "I asked you guys to give me two minutes!"

"But Sasuke," someone whines, "you promised you'd make gingerbread houses with us. We wanna make 'em now."

I frown at my ceiling. "Is that...I didn't know you have younger siblings."

"I don't," Sasuke says. "I'm—Moegi, the icing goes on the—just let me finish this phone call, please?"

"Talk on the phone and make gingerbread houses," someone else says. "Please Sasuke. We've been waiting' forever."

"And afterwards we wanna play dress up again," a third kid says.

Sasuke groans. "I'm not putting makeup on again, though. I'm still trying to get the eye shadow off."

"But the princess has to wear eye shadow!"

"If I agree to wear the eye shadow, can I finish my conversation first?" Sasuke asks.

There's a beat of silence before a chorus of, "Okay."

Sasuke sighs in relief. "Sorry about that."

"Princess?" I snorted. "Sasuke, do you have some interesting hobbies that I don't know about?"

"Ha, ha," he says dryly. "I'm babysitting. My parents and their friends go to this big Christmas Eve party every year, and I'm always stuck babysitting for everyone."

"You're trying to tell me," I says slowly, "that you, Sasuke Uchiha, the school's running receiver—"

"Running back," he corrects. "I'm the running back. There's no such thing as a running receiver."

"I really don't care," I retort. "But you're telling me that you actually spend your Christmas Eve making gingerbread houses and letting little kids dress you up as a princess?" I can't help but laugh. "Is there a tiara involved?"

"I'll have you know," Sasuke says stiffly, "that the tiara is a crucial part of the whole ensemble."

"Oh, my God," I chuckle. "I want pictures."

"Not happening."

"Okay, fair enough." I find myself smiling stupidly up at my ceiling, for some reason.

It's just...I hadn't thought Sasuke would be like that. I didn't think he would be good with kids and it's...surprising, in a good way. "I still can't believe this is actually how you spend your Christmas Eve."

"And New Year's Eve," he admits. "I'm always stuck babysitting."

That's— "No way," I say. "No way do you give up your New Year's Eve to babysit."

"I always do," he says, completely serious. "Have since I was about thirteen. My parents have a lot of friends with kids, and they figure it's easier to just dump them all off on me at the house than to get individual babysitters. And I really don't mind."

"But what about, like, your friends and shit? Don't they wonder why you can't come to their parties?"

"Considering all of them live hours away, no."

"What?"

"I don't really, um, get invited to many parties around here," he says quietly.

"Why not?"

Sasuke groans. "I was really lame growing up, okay? And I'm from a small town. People don't really forget that stuff around here. So I don't really have many friends back home to invite me to parties, which is why I don't mind babysitting. If I wasn't, I'd probably spend the night watching Kagemasa or something. Are you happy?"

That doesn't make any sense, in my mind. Sasuke's extremely popular at school. Everyone knows who he is, because he's on the team, and because he goes to all the big parties. I can't imagine a Sasuke with no friends, who doesn't get invited to any parties, who spends his nights watching superhero movies or babysitting instead of getting shitfaced and grinding on whatever pretty girl catches his attention that night.

"That doesn't make any sense, honestly," I say out loud.

"That's why I like school," Sasuke admits. "It was a fresh start for me. Everyone got to know me for me, not as that dorky kid who used to eat lunch alone that everyone called the teacher's pet because he liked to do his homework and didn't like to get in trouble."

"I...wow," I breathe. I never once considered that maybe Sasuke's life was completely different to the one I get to see. That maybe there was a different person lying underneath the one I share a room with. "But—"

In the background, on the other line, I hear muffled sounds that get louder and louder, until finally I can make out a chant of, "Gin-ger-bread! Gin-ger-bread!"

"I have to go," Sasuke says. "They're about to riot."

"Right. Um..."

"See you," he says before I can finish. He hangs up seconds later, not waiting for me to say goodbye.

Afterwards, I stare up at the ceiling for a long while, phone still pressed to my ear, as if I expect Sasuke to magically come back on. Obviously he doesn't, and eventually I put the phone away and get out of bed.

I head downstairs, if only for something to do. It's too early for me to sleep, but I'm too tired to read. So instead I curl up on the couch and watch TV with my family until my parents send my little sisters to bed, and then they follow not much later, leaving me alone with the TV.

I watch three Christmas movies, including The Grinch (the live-action one) and some movie where a little girl befriends a reindeer. When my eyes feel too heavy to keep open, I trudge up the stairs. Just before I fall into bed, I grab my phone and check to see if anyone messaged me (which is dumb, I know, because no one ever does, really, not even Ino and Tenten).

There's a single unread message, and I open it. It's a picture message from Sasuke. He's got pink lipstick on his lips, heavy blush on his cheeks, fake eyelashes and a lot of eyeshadow on. And on top of his head sits a tiara that's way too small for him. The picture comes with a caption that simply reads told u it's an important part of the costume.

I smother a laugh and shut off my phone.


	23. 22

Disclaimer: Naruto and the Roommates are the property of their respective owners. I am in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of the material. I don't own anything. I didn't write this story and only put Naruto characters in place of the original characters. I didn't write this story and only replaced various things. The original is by Ashley Love.

Sakura POV

While the break was nice, it's just that: a break. Eventually I have to pack up and head back to school, but I'm not dreading it as much as I thought I would. In fact, there's a small part of me, no matter how much I deny it, that's...looking forward to it. Not just getting back to class, or seeing Ino and Tenten. There's a part of me that can't wait to get back to my room. To flop onto my bed and maybe find Sasuke on his own.

My room is empty when I get there, though. Sasuke hasn't been back yet, apparently, because there's a staleness in the air that says it hasn't been touched in days. I flick on the light, toss my bag onto the bed, and crack the window with effort. The snow on the ledge and the ice on the glass makes it difficult, but I manage to get it open an inch or two, and I leave it like that, even if the air that drifts through is freezing. I'll shut it later.

Ino and Tenten aren't getting back until later tonight, so I busy myself with putting my stuff away, and then I go about cleaning the room, even Sasuke's side. The guy across the hall, Kiba, has a broom that I borrow, and I sweep under both beds (finding a few questionable things under Sasuke's), and then I make both of them again because Sasuke doesn't make his bed right, and it still looks messy. I gather up all the extra pens and pencils I'd found under his bed, some of them my own, some not. I'm pretty sure I've never actually seen Sasuke touch a pencil or pen, so it's a bit confusing to find that many loose around the room when they're not mine, but whatever.

I open the bottom drawer of the desk, going to put the pencils and pens in the pencil case, but I stop when I find a wrapped present inside. It's not very big, and the wrapping job is horrendous. I almost slam the drawer shut, because this is such an invasion of privacy, but then my eyes land on the little sticker at the top with Sakura scribbled on it.

Carefully, I pull it out, dropping the pens and pencils loosely into the drawer. I nudge it shut with my foot and sink onto Sasuke's bed, looking down at the package in my hands. Experimentally, I shake it. Nothing happens. It feels like plastic, possibly, underneath the wrapping paper. And it gets weirdly bulbous in some spots.

Sasuke bought me a gift. Sasuke got me a Christmas present.

I don't know what to do with that information. I can't figure out why he would do that because, from what I know, Sasuke doesn't like me. But apparently he does, enough to get me a gift. I hadn't even considered getting him one. Does that make me an ass? No, I don't think so. This is so out of the blue, I never could have seen it coming. In fact, if I wasn't holding the present right at this moment, I wouldn't believe it.

The door to the room opens, and I look up sharply. Sasuke steps inside, duffle bag slung over one shoulder. His eyes slowly fall to the present in my hand, and he drops the bag with a thump, crossing the room in seconds. He tugs it out of my fingertips, heat rising to his cheeks.

"Is that—did you really get me something?" I ask, wide-eyed and flustered. Too shocked to steady that tone in my voice. "No," Sasuke spits. His face goes from a mask of embarrassment to one of anger. "You always tell me not to go through your shit. Don't go through mine."

"I wasn't—"

"Then how did you find this?" he demands.

"I was cleaning," I defended weakly. "I didn't mean to find it."

Sasuke's eyebrows draw together. He turns the gift over and over in his fingers before dropping it in my lap. "Whatever, have it. I meant to give it to you on the night of the Christmas party, but you'd left."

Guilt threatens to strangle me. "I didn't know," I responded. "I—"

"Don't worry about it," Sasuke says. "It's...it's not even for you, really. It's for me. You're always pissing me off, leaving the lights on when I'm trying to sleep, so I figured this would make my life easier. If you actually use it, but whatever."

Methodically, I peel away the wrapping paper. Underneath I find one of those lights that you clip onto books and things, for late night reading and such. I've gotten more than one of these from my parents, actually, but they were always cheap. This doesn't look that cheap. And it's not the best gift in the world, but it's still...

"Thank you," I say, trying to sound as genuine as I can because I mean it. I clear my throat. "But I, um, didn't, like...I didn't get you anything."

"Whatever," Sasuke says again. "That's not all I wanted to talk to you about that night."

I blink up at him. Just like the day with the paint, I can feel it, the change that's about to happen. It's not a literal thing, it's this gut twisting feeling. "What is it?"

Sasuke looks awkward, one of his hands running through his hair. "We can't...we can't hook up anymore."

It's like he's punched me in the stomach, only he's too far away from me for that to be possible.

"Why not?" I ask, calm and collected. I'm proud of myself for that.

"I don't think my girlfriend would appreciate it much if I was fucking my roommate," he says flatly. "Now do you think you could get off my bed?"

"Girlfriend." I bunch up the wrapping paper and clutch it and the gift tightly in my hands as I stand up. "When did that happen?"

"Recently," he says vaguely. "Not that it's any of your business."

I wince at the tone in his voice, but then I revert back to myself. Before I ever considered that maybe I might like Sasuke. Before I ever stopped looking at him as someone I hated and started looking at him as something else.

"Like I give a shit about your relationships," I scoff.

"Figured you wouldn't," he says with a shrug. "Just thought I'd let you know."

"It's not like I ever initiated that shit anyways," I find myself saying. I'm hurt, is the thing. I didn't see any of this coming, and the emotional whiplash from the last couple minutes is taking its toll. Fuck, five minutes ago I was blindingly happy (if not a bit confused) because Sasuke had cared enough to get me a gift. And now I feel this horrible, sinking in my stomach because he doesn't need me anymore. He's got someone else. And I want to hurt him right back.

"It was always you, wasn't it? Like, you always kissed me first. You're the one who always started it. I just went along with it because—" I cut off with a shrug, not sure how to finish that.

"You're right." Sasuke's face is a blank, emotionless mask. "It was always me initiating it. So I guess it doesn't matter to you if I call it off."

"Not one bit."

"Didn't think it would." Sasuke crosses the room, kicks his own bag out of the way, and storms out the door.

I'm so completely confused. But I don't want to care. No, I don't care. Sasuke's done with me, and you know what? I'm done with him. I'm fucking done. I can't believe there was ever even a second where I might have wanted—

No. Never again. Sasuke can go to hell. I don't need him, anyway.


	24. 23

Disclaimer: Naruto and the Roommates are the property of their respective owners. I am in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of the material. I don't own anything. I didn't write this story and only put Naruto characters in place of the original characters. I didn't write this story and only replaced various things. The original is by Ashley Love.

Sakura POV

Things go back to normal. Not the way they had been before the holidays, but the way they'd been during the first couple weeks of school. I go back to hating Sasuke for every single thing he does, and Sasuke goes back to hating every single thing I do. Every time one of us opens our mouth in the room, the other snaps for it. Every time his stuff crosses the halfway line in our room, I throw a fit. Every time I'm in the room when he gets there, he sneers and walks back out.

And it's better this way.

"I don't see why he can't just clean up his fucking shit," I grumble. "Like, is it that hard to pick up a sock every once in a while?"

"Ask Ino." Tenten smirks. "If she didn't have me, her room would be trashed."

"It's true," Ino agrees. "Ten's my guardian angel."

"Do you think I'm being unreasonable, though?" I ask, ignoring them. "Like, isn't it completely within the line to get pissed off because he's a slob?"

"Depends," Ino answers. "Are you naggy about it? Or do you politely ask him to maybe clean his stuff up once in a while?" I make a face at her, the answer to that pretty fucking obvious. "Then you can't really blame him. And you realize he probably does it just to piss you off, right?"

"Yeah, I'm aware." Sasuke does a lot of shit just to piss me off. And vice versa.

"You've really made a mess of things," Ino tells me. "Haven't you?"

"Yeah, I'm aware."

Suddenly, without warning, I have two pairs of arms wrapping around me. Ino squeezes me tightly, Tenten's hand rubs at my back, and it's nice, even if I can't breathe. Warm and comforting. What did I do to deserve these two? I'm really not sure.

"Sakura."

Both of them released me just as suddenly as they'd hugged me. I look up, frowning when I find Naruto standing in front of the couch the three of us are occupying. "Yeah?"

"Can I talk to you for a minute?" Naruto has his hands stuffed deeply in the pockets of his hoodie, and he's got a pinched look on his face. It's such a contrast to how he normally looks, all sunny smiles and bright openness. Now he's cold and closed off.

"Um." I look between Ino and Tenten for a moment before shrugging. "Sure."

"Alone," he adds.

I shrug again and get off the couch, following Naruto through the common room, out into the stairwell. Naruto leans against the wall, arms crossed over his chest, and I stand there a little awkwardly. A girl from one of my classes hurries up the stairs, pausing when she passes us before continuing on her way.

"I like you," Naruto says. "You know that, right? I think you're a good girl, Sakura."

"Uh, thank you." I frown and shift a little awkwardly on my feet. "I like you too."

"So then maybe you could tell me what the fuck is going on with you and Sasuke," Naruto says angrily. "Maybe. Because I'm pretty damn confused, and I hate seeing him upset."

I take a step back in surprise. "What?"

"Don't play dumb, okay? I know you two were sleeping together."

I swallow. I told Ino and Tenten, so it's no surprise that Sasuke told Naruto. He had every right to, right? As much of a right as I had telling my friends.

"We're not anymore, though," I say quickly.

"I know that." I can tell Naruto's patience is wearing thin; he's tapping his foot impatiently against the ground, arms tightening around his middle. "What I wanna know is why. And what you did, because he won't talk to me about it, but he's been pretty fucked up the last couple weeks. Ever since we got back from break."

"He's the one who called it off," I say, more than a little defensive. Why do I get the feeling that Naruto blames me for this? And he's wrong, too, because Sasuke's been fine the last couple of weeks. More than fine, really.

Hell, every time Sasuke's in the room, he seems pretty freaking peachy to me. Especially considering he's usually got his girlfriend with him. Which I refuse to get jealous about. I'm not jealous about it. Even those times when I walk in and Sasuke's got his shirt off and she's groping him and—I don't care.

Only I do. And what's even worse is that she's nice. She's sweet and polite, and she always offers to leave when I come into the room, because she respects that it's my room as much as it is Sasuke's. And I honestly fucking like her, but I wish I didn't. I wish I could hate her.

"There's no way he did that," Naruto says firmly. "Sasuke wouldn't call it off. He liked you too much."

Those words shouldn't twist my insides with hope and a bit of longing, but they do. So I squash it and say, "Yeah, well, he did."

"That doesn't make any sense." Naruto looks sincerely baffled. "Why would he do that?"

"Beats me." I shrug, reaching for the door. "And I really don't care either way. Can I go now?"

Naruto doesn't seem to hear me. He's too busy pulling out his phone, pressing buttons quickly. I take that as my cue to go.

When I get back to the couch, Ino and Tenten give me questioning looks. I shake them off and sink onto the couch between them. "He just wanted to know what happened between Sasuke and I."

"So would we, actually," Ino says.

So would I.

"Yeah, well." I say it with finality, end of conversation.

Ino and Tenten won't stop looking at me after that, though. Looking at me like I'm something fragile that's close to cracking into hundreds of irreparable pieces. I can't stand it.

"I've got homework," I say abruptly. "I probably shouldn't put it off any longer. I'll see you guys later."

"Are you sure you don't want to stay?" Tenten asks. "Rogue ninja is on next."

I shake my head. I love that show, but what I'd love more is to be alone. "I'm okay. Next time, alright?"

Because I have the worst luck (and roommate), the room is occupied when I get there. I push open the door without knocking, and I find Sasuke and his girlfriend on the bed, her straddling him. My heart sinks into my stomach, and I'm frozen for a moment. It's not the first time this has happened, and I figure it won't be the last. But Sasuke's meeting my eyes over her shoulder as she kisses along his jaw and neck, his lips parting in a silent moan.

It's more than just jealousy. It's this crushing, horrible pain in my chest because I never even got what she has. I never really had Sasuke. Sure, we fucked, but that's not the same as a relationship. That doesn't mean anything. Sex doesn't mean anything when you can't hold the person afterwards. When you can't kiss each other just because, without needing to progress things into something more.

As quietly as I can, I back away and shut the door, feeling a burning in my eyes. I only get halfway down the hall before Sasuke comes out of the room, calling my name.

I turn, finding him shirtless and panting, standing in the middle of the hallway.

"What?" I demand. I pray I don't sound as upset as I feel, because that war that me and Sasuke started so many months ago is still going. The battle's different, but the opposing sides are the same. And I refuse to let him beat me. Refuse to admit defeat.

"Do you ever knock?" he growls at me. "God, you have the worst timing!"

"Sorry, but not everyone lives on your schedule, Sasuke!" I shout back. I wipe at my eyes as discreetly as I can, but the burning tears now feel like they're from frustration more than anything.

The door next to me opens, and the guy from the room next to ours peeks his head out.

"Great," he mumbles. "The people next door are fighting again."

"At least they're not fucking again," someone else in the room, hidden by the door, replies.

I go bright red, my hands clenched into fists. And, just because I can, I stomp down the hall, ducking past Sasuke and into my room. I flop onto the bed, completely ignoring the pretty blonde girl lying in Sasuke's, looking a bit lost, like she's not quite sure what happened.

"What are you doing?" Sasuke demands.

I shrug. "Lying in my bed, obviously."

"I have company over," he hisses.

"Really? I didn't notice."

"Sakura," Sasuke groans. "Fuck off, honestly."

I sit up, extending my hand to the girl on the bed. "You know, I don't think we've ever been formally introduced," I say, because we haven't. We've spoken, me and her, but it was always in passing, nothing but a few pleasantries. "I'm Sakura, by the way."

The girl takes my hand and laughs. "I know that. D'you know how often this one talks about you?" She jerks her thumb at Sasuke, who's as red as I had been in the hallway, only I had been that color out of embarrassment; Sasuke looks livid. Like a volcano that's about to explode and kill hundreds of civilians.

"Don't encourage her," Sasuke says. "And Sakura, get the fuck out of here."

"I think I'd like to stay," I say cheerfully. It's an act, though. I still feel sick, upset, jealous, but it's easier to deal with that when I know I'm making Sasuke feel terrible right back.

"That's fine," Sasuke's girlfriend says. "I have to go anyway. I promised my roommate we'd do dinner." She gets up, pressing a kiss to his cheek that leaves sticky lip gloss in its wake. "I'll call you later, okay?"

"You don't have to leave," he says quietly. "Just ignore her. I do."

"It was nice talking with you, Sakura!" she calls over her shoulder.

Sasuke locks the door behind her and stays turned to it for a long, long time. When he finally turns back around, he's got this look on his face that actually terrifies me for a moment. Me and Sasuke fight a lot, but I've never actually thought that he would hit me. For just a second though, I think it might happen. I think this time I've actually pushed him too far, tipped him over the edge.

Sasuke crosses the room, and his hand fists in the front of my shirt. I close my eyes, waiting for it, but he tugs me to my feet first. And then...nothing.

I blink open my eyes, a little thrown off. "What are you—?"

"I'm not initiating it this time," he states. "If you want it, you do it."

"You're not—you're not going to hit me?" I ask, surprised.

Sasuke's intense look morphs into one of complete disbelief. "No," he gasps. "God, no, Sakura. Never. Fuck, I'd never—I wouldn't. Okay? I'd never, ever lay a hand on you like that. You might make me want to rip out my own hair and scream and throw things, but I'd...I wouldn't."

He wouldn't, and I feel like an ass for even thinking that he would.

"Okay. I shouldn't have assumed that you would."

"You shouldn't have," Sasuke agrees, obviously annoyed. His forehead rests against mine, a hand sliding into my hair, and I missed that. Missed the way he tugs at the strands until it almost hurts, but never crossing that line on purpose. He seems to only do it when we're caught up in the thick of things, because for some reason he's always careful with me even when he's being rough. "You're the most frustrating person I've ever met."

"Same, but...the other way around." I have obviously benefited so much from higher education.

"Shut up and kiss me," he pleads.

My gaze drops to his lip, but I notice the smudged lip gloss on his cheek. "You have a girlfriend, Sasuke."

"I'll feel guilty about it later."

So I kiss him. Kiss him the way I want to, the way we should have been kissing before. It's not a rough press of lips, it's gentle, hesitant and unsure. If this is happening, I'm going to do it the way I want to. Because Sasuke's already called it off once, and I'm sure as fuck going to get my fill while I have the chance.

Sasuke's lips part, and I slip my tongue into his mouth, gently brushing it against his. And all I can taste is this sickeningly sweet, artificial strawberry flavor.

"You taste like her," I groan, pulling back. My eyes narrow, and I shouldn't have said that, shouldn't have let Sasuke know how much that bothers me, but it does.

He pulls me back in, hand pressed firmly against the small of my back. "So kiss me until I don't," he challenges. "Kiss me until I taste like you."

I push hard against him, hands holding onto his shoulders to keep him steady. I lick into his mouth until that sweet strawberry flavor isn't so powerful. Until my head swims and Sasuke's tugging at my hair, no longer just sliding his hands through it. Until we're both breathless and I'm wet in my panties, trying to push us towards the bed because I like kissing him—no, love it—but I want more.

Sasuke steers us in the other direction, dropping us heavily onto my bed. I have only enough time to move up a bit, get more comfortable, before he kisses me. It's not us kissing each other. It's him kissing me, like he knows exactly how my mind works. Knows exactly how to move his lips and his tongue to drive me crazy. Sloppy and thorough and perfect.

It's been weeks. Weeks of us wasting time, when we could have been doing this instead. We were so, so stupid. How could we have ever thought stopping this would be a good idea?

Sasuke's lips move from my own, trailing down my jaw to my neck like they always do. My hands move up and down his back, fingertips kneading into flesh, loving how warm and soft his skin always is. But his lips are still moving downwards. He bites at my collarbone, pulls down the neck of my t-shirt to kiss the center of my chest, over the butterfly tattoo.

"Shirt off," he mumbles. He pulls back, resting heavily on top of me, towering over me. "Get it off, Sakura."

"R-right." I nod and push myself up, trying to pull my own shirt off with unsteady hands. Sasuke gets impatient, pulling it off for me, and then it's gone and he's kissing my chest again, sending sparks through me with nothing but a whisper of those lips. "Fuck, Sasuke."

He moves lower, teeth scraping, tongue dragging over my skin, like he can't get enough of it. He undoes the button on my jeans, tugs them down in one easy pull because my hips lift obligingly, and then his teeth are nipping at my hip bone, his chin pushing my panties down a little farther. That heavy feeling settles on my chest, making it hard to breathe, but it's for a completely different reason. It's because Sasuke's looking up at me with wide eyes, finger hooked under the waistband of my panties, pulling them down, down, down.

"Sasuke," I say roughly.

He smirks up at me, lips on my inner thigh. "This okay?"

That is possibly the stupidest question in the entire fucking world, I think.

"Yeah, it's okay," I say.

Sasuke nods, stubble burning against my thighs, which sends jolts straight to my pussy. I want to fist a hand in his hair, and push him towards that spot where I need him, but I'm happy to wait. Happy for anything he gives me, at this point.

I always sort of distantly thought that Sasuke's lips were obscene. They're pink and plump and they thin when he smiles. I hadn't taken a lot of time to really consider how they'd look on my pussy, and I'm not prepared for the sight of it when Sasuke's tongue snakes out, gently gliding over my clit before he's wrapping that mouth around it, one hand on my hip to hold me steady. And it's...it's overwhelming, pink lips puckered tightly around me, Sasuke's dark eyes looking huge as they blink innocently up at me, the warm wetness of his mouth, the drag of his tongue.

I'm not sure where I'm allowed to touch. Can I grab at his hair? Drag my thumb along his cheek? Trace the stretch of his mouth? I don't know, so I fist my hands in the sheets instead and try my best not to push up into his mouth.

I take back every single bad thing I've ever said about Sasuke in my entire life. The man's a gift. He's brilliant. Heavenly. He does this thing where his lips tighten around my clit and his tongue swirls around it while I moan, and my entire body shudders, mouth opening and closing in a silent, breathless gasp.

"What—what about you, though?" I force myself to ask, if only because this isn't how we do things. We never focus on one of us. It's always both of us, struggling to get ourselves off as quickly as possible. Right now, this is just Sasuke, all of his attention on making me feel good. And he's fucking succeeding.

The only response I get to that is his mouth sliding farther down me until he's licking at my entrance. When he slides back up to my clit, his hand replaces where his mouth once was, and he works on doing that tongue thing again while fingering me with a quick, spit slicked hand. And I shatter. That's what it feels like. It's not the normal tightening in my stomach just before I cum, and a wave of released tension and relief when I do. It's like Sasuke's torn me apart into ragged, broken little pieces. I don't even get a chance to pull him off me before I cum directly on his lips, vision darkening, head spinning.

There's a moment or two where I lose myself in the sensation, in the way Sasuke struggles to lick up every drop, mouth still wrapped firmly around me. But it gets to be too much, after a while. So much so that I whine, reaching down to push him off me. But he keeps swirling his tongue, I feel overheated, and I wonder if I'm going to black out when Sasuke finally pulls off me.

Which doesn't really help the situation, honestly, because his lips are puffy and red and slick and—

"Fucking Christ," I moan. I grab his arm. "C'mon, let me—"

Sasuke shakes his head. "I'm good," he says, kissing me gently, sweetly, despite the fact that I can taste myself in it, sweet and salty. "See? Now I taste like you," he says with a smirk right against my lips. When he pulls back, he falls onto the side of the bed so he's lying parallel to me. "Why do I get the feeling that I just gave you your first oral?"

That was not at all what I expected Sasuke to say. I go red, reaching for my panties. I tug them over myself and refuse to meet his eyes.

"Oh my God," he says. "Seriously?" He pauses, eyes getting so much wider. "Wait, shit, were you—was I your first? I mean, not just with this but... with everything?"

"You didn't take my virginity, Sasuke, calm down," I grind out. "Fuck."

"But then..." Sasuke's fingers dance over my stomach, scratching lightly every once in a while. "Then how have you never gotten head before?"

I don't really want to talk about this. And I have no idea why we're still touching, because we don't do this. We don't do the whole post-sex cuddling and talking thing.

"My ex didn't...he didn't do that," I find myself answering anyway.

"Didn't do that," Sasuke repeats. "What, you mean he didn't eat pussy?"

And I laugh at that, but I just turn my head, looking away from him because yes, that's exactly what I meant.

"Wait." Sasuke props himself up, hovering just over me, eyebrows drawn together. "Please tell me you weren't with one of those guys, Sakura. Come on."

"One of those guys," I say. "What does that even mean?"

"You know what I mean," Sasuke insists. "The type that... it's all about them. The type that doesn't care about you, all they care about is themselves, about getting themselves off, and afterwards they come up with an excuse not to return the favor. The type that uses you. You realize that's what it is, right? Using you to get off and that's it. You deserve better than that. You—"

"You mean someone like you," I snap. I climb off the bed, reaching for my jeans. "That's exactly what you do, so don't sit there all high and mighty like you're better than him." I button my jeans expertly fast, locating my shirt where it hangs off Sasuke's bed seconds later. "Because this?" I wave a hand between us. "This is the exact same thing. So fuck you, Sasuke."

I almost ran from the room. My blood is rushing in my ears, making everything sound hollow. I ignore Sasuke calling after me this time, just speed walk down the hall with my head ducked because I can't handle this.

And deep down, I know that what I said to Sasuke was right. Subconsciously, maybe that's why I've always hated him. He's so much like Sasori it's crazy.

Now that I'm apparently letting that train of thought continue down the tracks, it runs away from me, keeps going until I have no control over it anymore. I fall onto a bench outside and light up a cigarette as I remember a scene just like this, back in school, when I was in the eleventh grade. After school, actually. I was waiting for the bus to go home, and so was Sasori, and he was smoking even though he was still in his rugby uniform. His ruby red hair was a mess, as it always was, and he'd smiled at me and offered me a drag.

And I had taken it, if only because...I wanted to impress him, for some reason. Wanted to seem cool.

The next day, Sasori had been there again. And the next. And on the fourth day he invited me to hang out at his house, and I had agreed because no one ever wanted to hang out with me after school, and here was the captain of the rugby team, the most attractive guy in school, giving me the time of day.

Sasori's parents hadn't been home, and we'd spent the next three hours kissing. I had never been kissed, before that, and I'd been worried about being bad at it, but Sasori promised that I was doing it right. Which is why it was a little off to me that we never did it again, the kissing thing. We did other stuff, though. Sasori taught me how to give a hand job in that bed. And then under the bleachers at the school, he'd taught me how to go down on him. And in my bed, when my parents weren't home, we'd had sex.

We never talked at school, though. In the hallways Sasori acted like I didn't exist. Would hang out with his friends and sometimes tease me because that's what they'd do. And he had a girlfriend, Karui, who was all pretty red hair and long legs, and he kissed her all the time, freely and in front of everyone. He never did that with me.

He never did anything with me, though, except hook up with me when no one else was around. And when people were around, I wasn't good enough to know him. Every time I asked him about it, asked why we couldn't eat lunch together, or why I couldn't introduce him to my parents, all Sasori ever did was roll his eyes until, finally, I stopped asking.

Maybe that's why it was so easy to fall into this thing with Sasuke, because it was like history repeating itself. Hell, him and Sasori even looked similar, with their wide shoulders and tan skin and toned bodies.

"Fuck," I can't help but say to myself.


	25. 24

Disclaimer: Naruto and the Roommates are the property of their respective owners. I am in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of the material. I don't own anything. I didn't write this story and only put Naruto characters in place of the original characters. I didn't write this story and only replaced various things. The original is by Ashley Love.

Sakura POV

Honestly, I'm not eavesdropping. Really, I'm not. I was just coming back to the room for a moment to grab a book I needed before I returned to the library, where I'd even left things on the table with the intention of returning. Only I go to push open the door without knocking (I refuse to knock on the door to my own room, under any circumstance), and I hear the raised voices inside, and...

They're fighting. They're loud. I don't have to lean my head against the door to hear the distinct words they're saying. Which is why I don't feel that bad about it. If it was a conversation they were trying to keep private, they wouldn't be arguing so loud. (I still do feel guilty about it, though, but I can't seem to stop myself.)

"—it is!" The voice is female; it has to be Sasuke's girlfriend, even if I've never heard her talk in a voice that was anything but sweet and soft. "Just tell me who the hell it is!"

"It won't make a difference," Sasuke reasons. "Telling you who it was—"

"Was," she repeats, cutting him off. "You're using past tense, Sasuke, but we both know it isn't. God, I can see it right now on your face. Who the hell is she? An ex-girlfriend? Is that it? You still have feelings for her, don't you?"

"It's not an ex-girlfriend," Sasuke says slowly, and I do have to lean in to hear it. But I pull back immediately, wincing at my own actions. "I promise you, Temari—"

"Don't lie to me, Sasuke," she snaps. "Just be honest with me for five seconds, that's all I'm asking of you!"

"It's complicated."

"Complicated," she repeats, and I know Sasuke's fucked up now. "People always say that, but it's not! Cheating isn't complicated! It's not something that just happens. It's not an accident, Sasuke! It's a bad choice. A mistake. A huge mistake, but it's not a fucking accident. It's not something uncontrollable. It's not that complicated to keep your body parts to yourself!"

"I know that," Sasuke insists. "That's why I told you. You deserved to know."

"What I deserve is a boyfriend that doesn't cheat on me, actually," she spits.

I hear footsteps heading for the door, and I jump back, eyes wide. Shit. I pull the hood of my sweater over my head and start walking in the opposite direction, head ducked just in case.

"And stay away from me!" I hear behind me, just before a door slams.

I slowly walk down the hall. I can hear her going in the opposite direction, but when the footsteps are distant and no longer within hearing distance, I stop. Should I give Sasuke his space? Or should I go get my stuff? I really need that book, I think, and maybe a part of me wants to make sure Sasuke's okay. Even if I'm still pissed at him about yesterday. Even if I've done my best to avoid looking him in the eyes since all of that went down.

I turn on the spot and head back to the room. I push inside, only to find Sasuke sitting on my bed, head in his hands. He looks up when I shut the door softly behind myself, and his eyes are wet and red-rimmed.

"I, um, came to get my book," I mumble. "I can come back later, or—"

"No, it's fine." Sasuke gets off his bed. "I'm fine," he adds.

"I didn't ask," is out of my mouth before I can stop it. It's automatic, a reflexive response. I hate myself as soon as the words are out there, and Sasuke actually flinches at them, as if I had slapped him.

"No, you didn't," he says gruffly, voice thick. "Why would you care, right?"

I lean up to grab my book from the shelf, and then I stand there, just at the end of my bed, book hanging at my side. I want to apologize, but then, at the same time, I don't. What I really want, most of all, is to not care. Because if this had happened three months ago, I wouldn't. I wouldn't give a shit if I walked into the room to find Sasuke almost crying. I would have just walked back out without giving it a single thought. But now—now I want to wrap my arms around him. I want to rub his back until he no longer looks so broken and defeated.

And it's my fault, partially, why he looks like that. It takes two people to cheat on someone, and I had as much a part in it as Sasuke did. "I'm—"

He shakes his head, and the words die in my throat. Slowly, he picks his way across the room, over the mess on his own side, over to my spotless side. I step back, for some reason, until I hit the edge of my dresser, but Sasuke keeps coming until he's trapping me against it.

It's rough again, whatever gentleness we'd shared the last two times gone when his lips crash down against my own. And I go with it, for a while. Just as it's instinctive to snap at Sasuke, kissing him back is an automatic response to his lips brushing my own.

But Sasuke's girlfriend just dumped him, and I have no doubt that that is exactly why this is happening. That I'm going to be his rebound, for now. Until he finds someone else again, and then he'll leave me in the cold once more. And I'm sick. I'm sick of never being good enough for anyone. Sick of always being a dirty secret, never someone's first choice. Never the one they want to hold hands with, or curl up and watch movies with, or go to dinner with. I'm always the one they want behind closed doors, but I don't want that anymore.

I push Sasuke away from me. "No," I say firmly. "You can't just do that anymore."

Sasuke shuffles back a step, and then another. He wipes at his mouth, eyes on the ground. "Sasuke." It sounds like a plea, but a plea for what?

"I can't do this," I say. "You can't keep kissing me whenever you want. You can't keep...fucking with my head. I'm done. Okay? I'm done."

"But—"

I walk away. Just like I had to with Sasori. Because if not, this would continue on for God knows how long. Until I was shattered beyond repair, all at the hands of Sasuke Uchiha. And I can't handle that. I can't do that to myself. No matter how much I want to go back and kiss Sasuke and act like it's okay, it's not. It's not.

On my way out of the dorm, I stop at Ino and Tenten's door. They're not in, so I grab the marker hanging from the whiteboard and write In the library.Need you. — A

I walk straight past the front desk when I get to the library. I don't have it in me to nod a greeting to Shizune, like I normally do. Instead I head for the back, for the table that I've practically claimed as my own. A few tables down, a girl is asleep with her head in a book, but I'm alone aside from her and the books.

Ino and Tenten don't get there for a while, but when they do it's with snacks and... "Naruto?"

"We were hangin' out," Naruto says with a shrug. He sits in the seat right beside me. "I'm really good at cheering people up, so I figured I'd come."

"I don't think you want to cheer me up," I admit. "It's got to do with Sasuke."

"Course it does." Naruto shrugs again, stealing a chip from the bag that Ino snuck in (which I will give her shit for later, when I feel better) and popping it in his mouth. "When Sasuke's crying on my shoulder, it's always over you. And I figure it's the same the other way around."

I frown. "When was Sasuke crying?"

"Well, not crying," Naruto corrects. "He doesn't cry. He just, like, takes a lot of deep breaths and rubs at his eyes. He's too manly for tears or some shit. I don't know. All I do know is I've never seen such a fucked up relationship in my life, to be honest."

"Same," Ino puts in. "You two are the biggest mess."

"I hate to agree," Tenten says, "but it's kind of the truth."

"It wasn't a relationship," I deny. "And whatever it was I called it off this time. Sasuke didn't have to. After last night...that was the last time. I'm done with it."

"Last night?" Ino demands. "What happened last night? Why wasn't I informed immediately?"

"Uh, Sasuke came in when Sasuke was with his girlfriend, wouldn't leave, and it ended with Sasuke eating Sakura out. And then Sasuke said something, Sakura stormed out, or...I don't know, I kinda tune out whatever he says when he mentions Sakura's name anymore," Naruto says sheepishly. "Sorry, no offense to you. But there's only so many times I can hear I hate her, Naruto. She's so attractive and smart and down to earth and she looks so hot in her glasses but I really hate her."

I blink in surprise. I snatch the bag of chips away from Naruto when he reaches for it casually, as if what he just said wasn't a big deal.

"He said that?" I demand. "Sasuke...he said those things?"

"Uh, yeah." Naruto snatches the chips back. "The guy, like, worships you, dude. Not that he'd admit it, but..."

No way. "That's not true."

"Sure it's not," Naruto says. He rolls his eyes. "It's like talking to a brick wall of denial with both of you."

"It really is," Ino says. "They're so oblivious to their own feelings."

"I'm right here," I remind her.

Ino throws a chip at me. "I know. Get a clue."

I ignore her. And I think Naruto has it twisted. Sasuke doesn't think that way of me. I would know.

"So, are you two dating?" Naruto asks Ino and Tenten.

The two of them exchange a look before bursting into laughter. I tune them out, too busy wondering about Sasuke, and what Naruto said. And thinking that Naruto's so, so wrong, but how much I wish he was right


	26. 25

Disclaimer: Naruto and the Roommates are the property of their respective owners. I am in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of the material. I don't own anything. I didn't write this story and only put Naruto characters in place of the original characters. I didn't write this story and only replaced various things. The original is by Ashley Love.

Sakura POV

Just like I did at the beginning of the year, I avoid my room as much as possible. I spend all my free time in Ino and Tenten's room or in the common room, and I put in so much time at the library that I might as well live in there. But that's only because Sasuke is constantly in the room. Every time I open the door, he sits up in bed, mouth open, words about to come out. So I back out and shut the door and hurry away.

I can't deal with it, is the thing. I don't want to know what Sasuke has to say. I don't want to listen to Naruto trying to defend him (which he does constantly, now that he's apparently become great friends with Ino and Tenten, always there to put in his two cents about the relationship that isn't really a relationship). I want to spend the next few months focusing on school work and nothing else. Sasuke does not fit into that schedule.

Nor does the box of chocolates I find on my bed one afternoon. Sasuke, for once, isn't around. The room is blissfully empty, and I was planning on taking advantage of that by going on my laptop to catch up on a few episodes of TV shows before I went to bed. But my eyes fall to the bed, and I frown.

I slowly move towards it, kicking Sasuke's messy shit out of the way. It's a small box, completely black except the red bow. I frown, pick it up, and tug the bow until it comes undone. There's no letter, no card. Just a few pieces of chocolate inside. Before I can stop myself, I take one out and place it on my tongue.

Expensive, I think. It's not hard to tell the difference between cheap chocolate and the stuff that costs a little more, and this stuff is good. Rich and creamy, melting and coating my tongue.

Carefully, I put the lid back on, stash the box in the top drawer of the desk, and then I fall onto my bed, pulling out my laptop. An hour, and an episode of Shameless later, the door opens. I pause the show, eyes lifting to Sasuke.

"Hey," he says pleasantly.

"Did you leave those chocolates on my bed?" I demand.

Sasuke blinks, a frown tugging at his lips. "Maybe."

"Why?"

Sasuke shrugs and pulls open his dresser drawer. He riffles through it, pulling out clothes, and then he gathers up his stuff for the shower. Distantly, I noticed the sweat covering his skin, and I figured he was at the gym. If I run away to the library, Sasuke's escape is in the gym. He rarely even works out on our floor anymore.

Just before he's out the door, he hangs back and asks, "Did you like them?"

I press play on my show and ignore the question.


	27. 26

Disclaimer: Naruto and the Roommates are the property of their respective owners. I am in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of the material. I don't own anything. I didn't write this story and only put Naruto characters in place of the original characters. I didn't write this story and only replaced various things. The original is by Ashley Love.

Sakura POV

"You could have just told him you didn't," Naruto points out. "You didn't have to ignore him."

Something I'm learning quickly about Naruto, in the short time that he's pushed his way into the threesome of me, Ino and Tenten, is that he isn't as naive as I thought. In fact, Naruto seems possibly more aware of anything than any of us, sees straight through all the bullshit. And he hasn't been afraid to call me out on it, unfortunately. Not that I don't like the guy, because I do. A lot. But I like living in my happy little world of denial a lot more.

"What was I supposed to say, though?" I demand. I'm on the floor of Tenten and Ino's room, both of them on Tenten's bed playing a word puzzle, Naruto sprawled out on Ino's bed with a bag of chips. I wonder, distantly, why Naruto isn't with Sasuke. Sasuke's probably missing his best friend, right about now, and it almost makes me want to snap at Naruto for abandoning him. But I have a feeling there's a reason Naruto's with us and not Sasuke, and I'm not about to ask what it is, so I let it go.

"Uh, thank you, maybe?" Naruto suggests. "It's the polite thing to do, man."

"I don't even know why he gave me the damn thing," I grumble.

It's been fucking with my head all week. The (now empty, I couldn't control myself) box still sits in my drawer of the desk, and every day, at some point, I'll open the drawer, see it, and it will confuse me all over again. What's Sasuke playing at? What kind of game is this? Psychological warfare? Is he pissed at me for pushing him away, so now he's pretending to be all nice just to screw with me for it?

"Because he's in love with you, dumbass."

"Dumbass!" Ino says loudly. "Three down, two across."

"I'm pretty sure the word dumbass isn't used in crosswords," Tenten says patiently. "I think the word is dumping."

I ignore them in favor of blinking confusedly up at Naruto. "Why would you say that?"

"Say what?" he asks.

"That Sasuke's...that he—" I wave a hand, unable to repeat those words.

"In love with you," Naruto finishes. "Because he is, maybe? I mean, Sakura, come on. The guy broke up with his girlfriend for you."

"No." I shake my head firmly. "She dumped him because he cheated on her."

"With you," Naruto reminds me. "But that's not why it happened. He told her after he broke up with her, because she asked him why it wasn't working out, and he said he'd been with someone else and he couldn't see himself being able to stay away from them, and he couldn't be with her if he wasn't being faithful."

I rub at my temples. This is all too much. It's just...it's way too much.

"That's not true," I deny.

"Yeah, it is." Because it seems to be Naruto's goal, apparently, to not let me live in peace. "Also, poetry or flowers?"

This whole conversation is making my head hurt. "What?"

"If someone wanted to get you something, would you rather have poetry or flowers?" Naruto elaborates.

"I...I have no idea," I responded. "Poetry? I don't—where did that even come from?"

Naruto shrugs and stuffs his face to keep from answering, and Ino snickers from the other side of the room. Tenten looks between the three of us with an upset look on her face, but she drops her eyes back to the crossword puzzle before I can ask her what that look means.

I push that weird question aside in favor of thinking about what else Naruto said. About Sasuke possibly…but, like, he can't be. Right? Sasuke can't be in love with me because...why would he be, really? I've been nothing but an ass to him, ever. And even if I were nice to Sasuke, I don't really have much to offer anyone. Especially not someone like Sasuke, attractive and popular. Who could have his pick of much better candidates for his love. But...

Whatever. I'm not thinking about it anymore; if I do, I'll drive myself crazy. So I revert back into my Cave of Denial, where I'll happily live my days until the school year is over. And then, next year, I'll make sure that my roommate is not Sasuke, and I'll never, ever have to see him again. It'll be wonderful, I think, and if my stomach twists at the thought of doing that, well, I'll happily deny it.


	28. 27

Disclaimer: Naruto and the Roommates are the property of their respective owners. I am in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of the material. I don't own anything. I didn't write this story and only put Naruto characters in place of the original characters. I didn't write this story and only replaced various things. The original is by Ashley Love.

Sakura POV

Naruto's question makes sense when I go to my room after being in the library all afternoon the next day. The first thing I notice, upon entering the room, is that our wastebasket is full of balled up papers, which is weird enough. But then my eyes fall on my bed, on the neat black envelope, sealed with a single chocolate.

I groan. I pop the chocolate into my mouth and break the seal on the envelope, pulling out the thick parchment inside. The writing on it is kind of sloppy, admittedly, but it looks like it'd been carefully written down, probably more than once, guessing by the state of our garbage bin.

Sweet sighs

Tinged with a slight fever, I was in love with you

In that voice and in those eyes

If I notice, time is passing by

But I'll still search for a trace of you..

I read it over three times, eyebrows drawn together. And then I read it once more, for good measure, before putting the 'poem' back in the envelope and pulling out my laptop. I type the words in, and I shake my head. I knew it. They're song lyrics. It's not even a plagiarised poem, they're fucking song lyrics. Jesus Christ, really?

I snorted to myself. And while I still have no idea what Sasuke's trying to do, I'm not going to just ignore him this time.

It's almost an hour later when he comes into the room, once again sweaty after a workout. He shuts the door behind himself and bites his lip, eyes moving from the envelope on the desk to my face, his cheeks going red.

"What the hell even was that?" I ask him.

Sasuke licks his lips. "Um..."

"Those were Akatsuki lyrics," I state.

Sasuke rubs his neck, wincing. "I was hoping you wouldn't notice."

I shut my laptop and stand up. He takes a step back, moving away from me. "What are you trying to do, Sasuke? Putting cheesy song lyrics in envelopes and giving me chocolates and shit."

"I tried writing poetry myself," he admits, stammering a bit. "Naruto said it'd be better than flowers, but I'm as shitty at writing as I am at drawing, apparently, and...it didn't work. So I thought maybe…but obviously you figured it out."

"But why would you even bother?" I demand. "I don't get it."

"Like...like it said, I'm trying," Sasuke explains. "I'm trying to—"

"Well cut it out," I snapped. "It's creepy."

I leave the room, but not before I see the wounded look on Sasuke's face. But I close the door on it, too confused to do anything else. Too confused by everything I feel, and everything he's doing. I light up a cigarette on my way to the coffee shop, and I text Ino and Tenten, asking them where they are, begging them to come meet me.

Only there's no consolatory party this time. When I explain what happened this time, Tenten slaps my arm hard enough that it stings.

"You're an asshole," she says. "You better not have actually said that to him."

I gape at her for it. "What? But—"

"No," Tenten says. "You know, through this entire thing you've been acting like Sasuke's the only one who's done wrong. And I'm not saying he hasn't, because he has. You've both fucked with each other a lot, and you've both done and said some pretty shitty things. But you don't own up to it, Sakura. You act like you're a victim, and Sasuke's here to make your life hell when, in reality, you've done as much as him."

Both me and Ino look at her in surprise. My mouth feels dry, and I'm possibly going to throw up the sandwich I'd had for lunch. "Em—"

"Don't," she says, and I have no idea where this side of her came from. I didn't know Tenten was capable of looking like that, fierce and angry, lips a thin, tight line. And I definitely didn't think Tenten would ever get like that with me. "You know what you both need to do? Before anything? You need to fucking apologize to each other."

And with that she stomps away from the bench we were all sitting at, heading in the direction of our dorm. I'm too numb to call after her, or follow her. I feel sick and cold and tears are pricking my eyes. But I deserve it, don't I?

Tenten's right, I know it. I've been a complete ass to Sasuke this whole time. And I've been aware of it, I have, but...maybe I do need to own up to it. And maybe, in some weird, confusing way, that's what Sasuke's trying to do. Maybe he's trying to apologize for all of this shit that's happened.

"I need to go," I mutter. "Sorry, Ino."

Ino looks up from her phone. "You really are a bitch, you know."

"Yeah."

"Sasuke's with Naruto. You won't find him in the room."

"How do you know that?" I ask.

Ino holds up the phone. "It's this wonderful new invention called texting. Naruto told me that Sasuke just got to his room, and apparently he's cursing your name to the heavens, babe. He's pissed at you."

I chew my lip. The thing is, I know myself too well to think that I'll still be willing to apologize later. Know that I'll overthink it, come up with excuses not to. Know that I'll chicken out and run from this all like I've been trying to do for weeks now, ever since that night with the paint when I realized that I couldn't keep emotions out of it anymore.

"Can you...can you ask him to send Sasuke to the room?" I ask, soft and hesitant, not fully sure, even now, that I want to do this.

Ino's fingers blur over the keys, and a second later her phone beeps with a new message.

"Naruto says he likes you but right now you can go fuck yourself," she relays. She types out another message. "Now Naruto says that Sasuke says that he doesn't want to talk to you." More typing. "Okay, now Naruto says that he's trying to convince Sasuke, but Sasuke is ignoring him. And he also—"

I snatch the phone from her hand and press Call. I wait for a beat, as it rings, wondering if Naruto will even answer, but he picks up seconds later with a snapped, "Sasuke doesn't want to talk to her, okay?"

I suck in a breath. "Can you put Sasuke on?"

Silence. Then, "I'm not sure if that's a good idea. He doesn't want to talk to you, and I don't blame him."

I swallow my pride. "Please."

There's rustling on the other end, a heated conversation that I can't hear because Naruto must be covering the receiver. Silence falls for a moment, before more rustling and finally Sasuke's voice, thick and quiet, "What do you want?"

"Can you meet me in the room?" I ask. "To talk. Please."

"Talk about what? What's there to talk about, at this point, Sakura? Really? Because I don't see any reason why I should anymore, and I don't see any reason why you'd even want to."

"Please," I say again. That's it, nothing else.

"Okay," he sighs. "I'll be there in a minute."

"And if you're an ass to him again, Sakura, I swear I'll—" The call ends, cutting off Naruto in the background. I hand the phone back to Ino.

"He's meeting you, then?" she questions.

I nod. "He said he would, anyway. He might not. I wouldn't blame him if he didn't."

Ino stands up, resting her hand on my shoulder. "You're welcome to stay at ours if things go bad, okay? Even if Tenten yelled at you, we're here for you."

"Yeah, I know," I reply. "Thanks."

Ino waves me off. "Anytime. Now I'm gonna go get some pizza. Your relationship drama is exhausting."

The walk to my dorm is far shorter than I had hoped it would be. My hands may be shaking, just a bit, as I pull open the door to our floor. And I get halfway down the hall to our room before panic sets in. What if Sasuke doesn't want to hear me out? What if he just yells at me instead? Or, what if I can't think of the right words to say? What if it all comes out as a jumbled mess and I only make things worse?

Fuck it. I push open the door anyway. And Sasuke's not there.

I chew my lip, looking around, as if he could be hiding somewhere. But unless he's under the beds, he's not. So I sit down at the desk, turn to face the door, and I wait. And the longer I wait, the more nervous I get, until I'm ready to jump out of the chair and leave the room.

Sasuke comes in before I can. He's wearing a thick hoodie and sweatpants, and I'm pretty sure half of that belongs to Naruto. He softly shuts the door behind himself and leans against it, head ducked. He looks...

He looks hurt, is what he looks. Like what I said to him earlier had truly, deeply wounded him. So I suck it up, close my eyes, and say a sincere, genuine, "I'm sorry."

When I open my eyes, Sasuke's still got his head ducked, but his gaze meets mine. His brown eyes are narrowed and distrustful. "For what, exactly?"

I squirm. "Um. A lot of things?"

Sasuke nods. "You should be."

"Yeah, but so should you," I point out.

Sasuke nods again, pushing away from the wall. His feet drag across the floor on the way to his bed, like he's too tired to fully lift them. He falls onto it, leaning forward to put his head in his hands. I don't bother him, figuring he needs a moment and let him have it. When he finally lifts his head again, he says, "I was trying to win you over. With the chocolates, and the..." He waves a hand.

"Song lyrics," I supply. Once more, Sasuke silently nods his confirmation. "I thought you were fucking with me, that's why I reacted that way. But Naruto said you weren't, and Tenten yelled at me, and—"

"Tenten yelled at you?" Sasuke looks completely shocked.

"Right? I didn't see it coming, either." I slide a hand through my hair. "She told me I should apologize, too."

Sasuke stiffens, expression going blank. "So that's why you're doing it, then," he says coldly. "Because Tenten told you to."

I'm out of the chair in seconds. I kneel in front of him, hands hesitantly resting on his thighs, in case he doesn't want to be touched. But Sasuke doesn't push me away, so I take that as encouragement.

"That's not why I'm apologizing," I say lowly. "I mean, that's why I'm doing it now, but that's...I'm not saying it just because Tenten told me I should. I'm saying it because I mean it."

Sasuke snorts, disbelieving. "Right."

"Sasuke," I plead.

"What are you sorry for, then?" he asks. He's sitting with his back straight, hands clenched on the bed at his sides, eyes on the wall above my head. "If you mean it, then what are you sorry for? Specifically?"

I chew the inside of my lip. It makes me sick, how many things could fill in the blank here. So, so many options that it's really no wonder Sasuke hates me. Maybe I was justified in my hatred for Sasuke, too, but that doesn't make it okay. We'd both fucked up, as Tenten said.

"For not thanking you for the chocolates," I decide, going with the last offence first. "And the song lyrics. Even if it was cheesy as hell."

Sasuke groans. "Can we just pretend that never happened, please? God, that's almost as bad as the Christmas party when I set up the lights and got your present and you never showed up. You make me do a lot of embarrassing things, apparently."

"The lights?" I ask, completely lost.

Sasuke's face flushes. "I, uh, borrowed a few Christmas lights from the party and hung them up. I thought it'd be romantic."

"And I didn't show up," I state.

"And you didn't show up," Sasuke repeats. "I felt like an idiot. It...it was definitely one of the lower points of my life. Here I was, ready to spill my heart out to you, and you didn't even show. Like, I could have handled the rejection just fine. I don't expect you to feel things for me just because I feel them for you. But you didn't even come, and I realized afterwards that I was stupid to think that you would."

I can picture it, my eyes going out of focus. Sasuke setting up lights around the room, nervously jiggling his leg as he waited for me to show up. And then me, sitting in the car, looking down at the message and leaving it for almost an hour, until I was far away from the school and from Sasuke, before telling him that I'd left. Had he sat there the whole time, waiting for an answer?

"I'm sorry for that, too," I say. "Fuck, Sasuke, I didn't know."

"It's fine," he assures me. "I'm over it."

I inhale deeply, resting my head on Sasuke's thigh. "I'm sorry for a lot of other things, too. Like treating you like you're stupid, because you're not. Or looking down on you for getting so into football and working out."

"I'm sorry for making fun of you for actually working hard," he counters. "And for those times that I hit snooze on your alarm so you were late for class."

I lift my head, looking up sharply. "You what?"

Sasuke chuckles sheepishly. "It was only a handful of times," he defends. "Only because you'd really pissed me off, and your alarm is annoying."

I stand up, pushing at Sasuke's shoulders. He falls back on the bed, a big, silly grin on his face.

"I can't believe you did that," I say, sounding as scandalized as I feel. How many days did I have to run to class because of him? How many times did I wake up confused, thinking maybe I'd hit the snooze button myself? And all that time, it was Sasuke. "Prick!"

He reaches out, wrapping a hand around my wrist. He searches my face for a moment, unsure, and then his smile smoothes out again and he tugs me down on top of him. "I'm sorry for that time I hid your glasses for an hour too," he adds.

"You—" I glare at him. Or, I try. It's hard when Sasuke looks so…blindingly happy, all of a sudden. "Fucker," I say, but it's not harsh at all. "I'm sorry for that time I locked you out of the room for six hours and pretended to be asleep when you forgot your keys."

Sasuke's eyes widened. "You were awake?!"

"Maybe," I admit. "We really enjoy fucking with each other, huh?"

"Yeah." Sasuke's voice gets softer, and the smile morphs into a serious look. He rolls us over until I fall off him, landing on my back, legs dangling off the side of his bed. He props himself up over me, and I can't do anything but look up into his eyes, my stomach clenched tightly. "I'm sorry I fell for you. I know that we probably weren't supposed to have feelings, or whatever, not that we ever really discussed it, but...I'm sorry I screwed everything up by falling for you."

Maybe Naruto wasn't wrong, I realize. Because the way Sasuke looks at me, more than his words, is what makes me believe that maybe it's true. That maybe Sasuke really does have feelings for me.

"What if I don't want you to be sorry for that?" I whisper. I clear my throat. "Or what if I'm sorry for doing the same thing?"

Sasuke's eyes drop to my lips for a moment. "I'm sorry for kissing you."

I snort before I can stop myself. "Which time?"

Sasuke's lips press against my own, and my eyes widen in surprise, for a moment, before I let them fall closed. He kisses me slow and thorough, gently coaxing my mouth open. And then he pulls back, unexpectedly. I push myself up, trying to capture his lips again, but he shakes his head and smiles. "That time."

I groan, grabbing at the front of Sasuke's shirt to pull him back down. "Can we stop apologizing?" I beg. "Can we move on to the part where we just admit that we don't hate each other anymore?"

Sasuke raises his eyebrows. "I still hate you," he says. "You get up at insane hours in the morning, and you go to bed earlier than my eighty-year-old grandpa. You hit your keys on the keyboard way too hard. You do that annoying thing where you tap your pen on the desk while you think. You're a neat freak. You—"

"You snore," I say. "And you're a slob. Plus, you watch sports, like, constantly. It's ridiculous."

"Nothing wrong with sports," Sasuke argues. "And you do that pretentious thing where you correct people when they use 'who' instead of 'whom' even though you do it all the time yourself."

"Once," I say. "I corrected you once. And you never lock the fucking door, even though I've told you a million times—"

"You're naggy." Sasuke grins, chin tilted defiantly. "You're worse than my mother."

"You always work out when I'm studying."

"You're always studying. And you hog the desk like it's yours, but it's ours."

"You constantly touch my stuff."

"You always flop onto your bed."

"You get pissy on game days."

"You always slam the door."

"So do you!" I say, indignant. "All the time!"

Sasuke's eyebrows draw together. "I'm running out of things that you do that piss me off." He chews his lip. "You look cute in your glasses."

"You look hot when you're sweaty," I admit.

"I like your hair when you don't brush it after you've showered and it gets all messy."

"I think it's sweet that you let those kids put makeup on you just because it made them happy, even if you looked ridiculous."

"I think it's brilliant that you're not afraid to like what you like. That you don't care if other people think it's dorky or nerdy to like reading or comic books, or spending time in the library."

"I like that you didn't quit the art class, just because you were bad at it. I would've given up, but you never did, no matter how frustrated you got. And I liked your painting. I liked painting with you," I admit Sasuke closes his eyes tightly. "I bought your painting," he confesses.

I freeze. "What?"

Sasuke nods. "I made Mrs. Yuhi bid for me. I gave her the money. I wanted it, but I didn't want you to know because I hadn't told you how I felt yet, and I thought it might scare you off."

"Sasuke," I breathe. My chest feels tight, and there's a sinking feeling in my stomach, but for once it feels like a good thing. "You paid over a hundred dollars for that!"

All Sasuke does is shrug, like he doesn't care. "I liked it."

"I like you." Nothing else. Plain and simple. The honest truth.

Sasuke's free hand tangles in my hair, and he nods slowly while gently tugging his fingers through the strands. "I like you, too. More than like."

"I'm sorry that I screwed up your chance to tell me that sooner," I say, eyes on my own hands, slowly tracing patterns on Sasuke's forearm, outlining the tattoo there and filling it in with the tips of my fingers.

"I'm sorry that I honestly thought calling this off and seeing someone else would work," Sasuke says right back. "Because it didn't. Not at all."

I smile faintly up at him. "So we're back to apologizing, then?"

"We have a lot to apologize for."

"That's true," I say. "But I'd rather kiss you instead."

Sasuke grins, leaning down until his lips are almost touching mine. I sit up the rest of the way, hand resting on the back of his neck. Until Sasuke kisses me, hands pushing down my shoulders so I'm lying flat against the bed, giving him room to crawl on top of me. My hands move up his back as my lips part, and I can feel him smiling into the kiss, and can feel myself doing the same.

"Wait." Sasuke pulls back just an inch, and my gaze moves to his slick pink lips. Why did we stop kissing, exactly? That's a bad idea. We should kiss, like, always. "Does this mean we can't fight with each other anymore? Because I kind of enjoyed the fighting."

"And the angry sex?" I smirk.

"That," Sasuke says, words whispering against my jaw, "I definitely enjoyed it."

I shiver, shifting under him a bit. "I don't think we'd be able to stop fighting with each other even if we wanted to."

"Good." And then Sasuke writes the word out on my neck with just the tip of his tongue, and goosebumps break out along my skin. "One more thing." I groan at him. "Can we maybe do more than just, um, have sex with each other, though?"

I prop myself up on one hand. "Like what?"

Sasuke shrugs, not meeting my eyes. "I don't know. Go out, maybe. Kiss without it leading to sex. Date."

"Are you asking me to be your girlfriend?" I tease, because it's easier to joke than to get my hopes up or let Sasuke know just how giddy those words make me. Ridiculously giddy, actually, and warm. It's embarrassing, but I can't help it.

"Can't you go easy on me just this once?" Sasuke groans. "Why do I have to ask you?"

I roll my eyes. "Fine. Sasuke, will you be my boyfriend?"

"No."

I snort out a laugh, slapping at his shoulder. "Asshole."

He leans down so we're almost kissing again. "I do want that, though. I want to be able to hold hands with you. I want to be able to curl up with you on the couch in the common room while we watch my shitty sports shows and you complain the entire time. I want to sit with you in the library and watch you study and distract you until you threaten to kick me out, even though you wouldn't really do it. I want to sleep with you. Not sex, just sleeping." He pauses, taking a shaky breath. "I want it all, Sakura."

And I've never had that. Never had anyone wanted that with me. But I want that, too.

Want to pull Sasuke into every part of my life, even if we argue sometimes. Even if we shout at each other and get angry. I want there to be happy moments too, when we're not fighting. When we're just happily wrapped up in each other. I want that.

"One condition," I say.

"Okay."

"You start cleaning your side of the room, Sasuke," I say firmly. "Or it's not happening."


	29. 28

Disclaimer: Naruto and the Roommates are the property of their respective owners. I am in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of the material. I don't own anything. I didn't write this story and only put Naruto characters in place of the original characters. I didn't write this story and only replaced various things. The original is by Ashley Love.

Sakura POV

"I think I liked it better when all you watched was sports," I grumble.

Sasuke shushes me. "The chick with the dragon eggs is talking. She's my favourite."

Introducing Sasuke to Game of Thrones was, apparently, a bad idea. All he's done the last three days is marathon episode after episode, after borrowing the first season box set off the guy across the hall. And they're not the only ones, apparently, because the entire common room is full of people, some piled onto the floor, some piled onto the couch next to us, all of them avidly watching the screen.

"Fucking Christ," I mutter.

"Babe." Sasuke pulls me in closer, lips finding my forehead easily. "I love you, you know I do. But if you don't shut up—"

I grin, tilting my head up, and Sasuke's focus leaves the show for the first time in what feels like days. "What if I don't?" I whisper.

Sasuke's gaze darkens, eyes narrowing slightly. I smirk at him, knowing I've won before Sasuke's even realized it. And then, next thing I know, he's standing up, stomping past people spread out on the floor. I hurry after him, but he ignores me all the way back to our room.

Until we're inside it, and then he pushes me up against the door, lips going to my neck instantly.

"One episode," he growls. "You were the one who wanted me to watch it in the first place!"

"Yeah, but I didn't...I didn't expect you to...Fuck, I can't think when you do that, you know that," I groan. "But I didn't want you to ignore me. I didn't think you'd even like it!"

"I watched it for you!" Sasuke pushes up my shirt, and I lift my arms to get it off. "I can't believe we're really arguing about his right now."

"I've already seen them all, like, six times," I say. "I was bored."

"I can't watch it and entertain you at the same time," Sasuke points out, hands dropping to my jeans, now. "God, you're needy, you know that?"

"Don't call me needy," I snap, annoyance slipping into my tone. "I'm not needy."

"Really fucking needy," Sasuke says, nipping at my collarbone.

"Fuck you," I say, hands fisting in Sasuke's hair to keep him there.

"Mhm," he agrees. "Desk?"

"Yeah. But don't push all my shit onto the floor this time."

Sasuke picks me up easily, and I automatically wrap my arms and legs around him to keep myself up.

"What do you want me to do, then?" he demands. "Neatly put everything away before I fuck you?" Before I can answer that, he smirks and brushes his arm over the desk, knocking everything to the ground, including an empty coffee cup, pencils, pens, a notebook, and a half eaten chocolate bar. "Oops."

"You're cleaning that later," I say, just before my back hits the top of the desk a little roughly. Sasuke kisses me to make up for it. "Or so help me—"

Sasuke kisses me to shut me up, but later, when we're done and I've caught my breath again, we'll revisit this conversation. And maybe have a new one about not trashing the room just to have sex, since I'm somehow always the one cleaning it up afterwards.

Sasuke's lips move off mine, down my chest slowly. "If I give you head first, do I still have to clean it up?"

I debate that for a moment. "No," I decide.

Sasuke grins, tugging down my jeans easily, my panties following almost immediately. And then he pulls my legs up so they're over his shoulders, since he has nowhere else to put them, really, unless he lets them dangle uncomfortably off the desk. And there's no way I'm ever going to be able to study at this desk again, because I know that I'll not be able to think of anything else but this every time I sit here.

"Love you," Sasuke mumbles against my thigh.

I grin, reaching down to tangle a hand in Sasuke's hair. "Stop talking."


End file.
